For Letter or Worse by Esther Hatch

Every word in his old letter spells mortification.

There was only one reason young Harrison Chase moved away from his idyllic country upbringing to the long dark hours of working in a London factory—he was bound and determined to make his fortune and deserve a chance to court Christine Stone. But as years passed and his dream of making a fortune came closer into view, he realized there were a lot more important things in life than young, unrequited love.

In the middle of his charge to reverse the Corn Laws, and make food affordable to workers struggling to feed their families, his housekeeper helpfully mails a letter she finds languishing amongst his things. Not just any letter—a six-year-old love letter to Christine. With no other choice, he rushes back to his childhood home on Christine’s family estate. If he can’t get his hands on that letter before she does, Christine will discover what a pitiful and pretentious fool he had been. Only, he hadn’t counted on the mail being delayed.

Now, Harrison must decide which is worse—waiting with Christine as he not-so-slowly falls back in love with her, or returning to London without the letter, knowing once she reads it, he will never be able to visit her or look her in the eye again.

This book was previously published as part of the Timeless Victorian Romance Collection A Note of Change, under the title “Waiting for the Post