'No Man Wants a Wife With Opinions,' the Duke of Arlingham Said — Unaware He Would Propose Sunday

He said it carelessly over the salt at his own dinner table — that no man wants a wife with opinions — and the bookseller's niece seated between a deaf canon and a bowl of walnuts answered him the length of the board. By Tuesday she had demolished his bridge scheme in open vestry with eleven years of flood marks kept on a shop wall, and by Wednesday he knew who had been writing those anonymous letters about his estate. What the Duke of Arlingham did in the church porch on Sunday morning, in front of two hundred people, nobody in that county ever forgot. #periodromance #historicalromance #duke #regency #romance #lovestory #cleanromance #dukeromance #victorianromance #enemiestolovers #banter #wittyromance #outspokenheroine #cleverheroine #bookshop #anonymousletters #vestrymeeting #bridge #brooding #arrogantduke #humbled #publicproposal #churchyard #apology #devotion #truelove #storytime #audiostory #bedtimestory #romancestories #villagelife #floodmarks #equalmatch #happyending period romance, historical romance, duke romance, regency romance, clean romance, wholesome romance, enemies to lovers, witty romance, banter romance, outspoken heroine, clever heroine, bookseller's niece, bookshop romance, anonymous letters, newspaper letters, vestry meeting, turnpike trust, bridge design, arrogant duke humbled, duke proposes in public, church porch proposal, love story, romance audiobook, short romance story, victorian romance, english nobility, village life, flood marks, almshouse roof, surveyor, drainage map, duke of arlingham, romance for older women, read aloud story, story time romance, emotional love story, faithful devotion, happy ending romance, tasteful romance, equal partners