She stirred, looked up and straightened slightly as soon as she saw him. Her gaze darted to the coin and her hand closed around it. “Thank ye, sir,” she murmured, and Carlton tipped his hat before strolling onward.
Reaching a corner, he glanced up the street where a cart’s creaking wheels were clanking along. This was his kingdom, the slum of St. Giles, and the place where he’d reinvented himself when his life had fallen apart.
The sound of the cart receded into the distance, most likely dragged off to market by someone hoping to sell their wares. It was time for that now at six in the morning. Other people were also starting to stir. He could hear the opening and closing of windows and doors as they woke to another day of hardship.
Walking on, Carlton strode through the mist while surveying the streets for signs of misconduct. Anyone had a right to live here. He didn’t much care what crimes they committed, just as long as they did not target the other inhabitants of St. Giles, who were all under his protection.
He stopped again and tilted his head, alerted by a soft tapping noise. It sounded like feet hitting the ground at a frantic pace, and it seemed to be coming closer. Narrowing his gaze, he peered through the mist. If someone was being chased, he’d have to discern the reason for it, so he moved into the middle of the road, prepared to intercept the individual, when a bundle of white silk and lace topped by ribbons and tulle burst out of the ghostly haze and collided with his chest.
“What the devil?” It appeared to be covering a slender body now struggling frantically in his arms. “Be still, damn it! I’ve no intention to harm ye.” Yet.
The silk and lace twisted, righting itself even as the ribbons and tulle got tangled in his hands. And then, from beneath the brim of a decorative bonnet, the prettiest pair of blue eyes he’d ever seen looked up and widened the moment they met his gaze.
“I know who you are,” the woman, whoever she was, told him boldly. “You’re the Scoundrel of St. Giles.”
“At yer service,” he said with a smirk while continuing to hold her. Not because he’d quit being a gentleman the day his father died, or because he wished to exert his power over her, but because there were very few pleasures to be had in this life and he’d once decided to savor each one. “And who, might I ask, are ye?”
She tilted her chin up a notch. “Lady Regina Berkly, if you please.” She gave her arm a tug and he reluctantly released her. “And since you are here, I would like to enlist your help.”
He didn’t bother asking her why the hell she imagined he’d ever consider assisting a strange woman who looked like she’d exited a ballroom, taken a wrong turn and stepped straight into hell.
Instead he said, “With what?”
She squared her shoulders and tried to adjust the layers of fabric billowing around her. “With avoiding my wedding.”
“You’re”—he gave her a full perusal and acknowledged that the tulle now made sense—“a bride.”
A firm nod confirmed this. “Forced into unhappy matrimony with the Marquess of Stokes.”
Carlton considered his options for a moment and eventually asked, “Who are ye related to, exactly?”
“The Earl of Hedgewick is my father. My brother is—”
“Viscount Seabrook. Yes, I know.”
She looked at him with some surprise but Carlton didn’t bother explaining. He only smiled and offered his arm. “I’d be delighted to give ye sanctuary fer as long as ye need it, me lady. ’Tis the least I can do to ensure yer safety.”
And to finish enacting the revenge that had thus far been twenty years in the making.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
As with The Illegitimate Duke, this story required a great deal of medical research, especially pertaining to the early 1800s. For those of you who have not read that book, it is worth mentioning that Florian’s insistence on handwashing is due to Domestic Medicine by William Buchan. This book is an excellent source on contagion attentiveness from the late 1700s onward. It proves that awareness of hand-washing and general cleanliness in disease prevention existed even though it did not become a requirement for medical practitioners until much later. In fact, in spite of Buchan’s book, which was originally published in 1771, Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician, is credited with discovering the benefits of handwashing in 1847 when he noted a connection between physicians handling corpses, then delivering children without cleaning their hands first, and mothers contracting puerperal fever.
Not to diminish Semmelweis’s findings, but Buchan’s were made almost eighty years earlier and would have been known to a well-read man like Florian and to Viola since she was in charge of managing the hospital.
Since some readers may protest to the use of morphine instead of laudanum, I’d like to point out that although morphine was not commercially used until the mid-1800s, a German pharmacist named Friedrich Wilhelm Sertürner had managed to isolate the crystalline compound from crude opium by 1816. During his experiments, he discovered that the pain-relief effect of this compound was ten times that of opium and named it morphine after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.
Considering how well traveled and open to new medicinal discoveries Florian was and his close working relationship with Viola, the two would have wasted no time in acquiring this new narcotic and administering it to their patients when performing surgeries.
Other historically accurate facts I’ve used to flesh out this story include the following:
Pavillon de la Reine, the hotel in Paris where Henry and Viola stay. Built by King Henry IV of France in 1612, the hotel is named after Queen Anne of Austria, who once stayed there.
The automaton. As noted in the story, Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721–1790) was a Swiss watchmaker who built automatons to advertise his business, which also included the production of mechanical birds. His most notable works are The Writer, The Musician, and The Draughtsman. These mechanical wonders, so extraordinary for their time that some consider them the first computers, captured the interest of kings and emperors alike. For the purpose of this story, I chose to use The Writer, even though he was never sold at a market in Woolwich. Instead, he can be found at the Musée d’art et d’histoire (Museum of Art and History ) in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, together with The Musician and The Draughtsman.
Berry Bros. & Rudd, the wine merchant used by Henry. This business was established as a grocer in 1698 at No. 3 St. James’s Street by a widow with at least two daughters, though only her last name, Berry, is known. When her daughter Elizabeth and her husband inherited it, they began supplying the fashionable coffee houses of St. James’s where their shop was located. They chose to advertise this, and to this day, Berry’s continues to trade under the sign of the coffee mill. Eventually, Elizabeth’s son and another family relation would begin focusing primarily on wine and spirits. Their success is evident in the fact that the business has survived for hundreds of years.
The New Game of Human Life. This game was published in England in 1790 by John Wallis and Elizabeth Newberry. It consists of a “board” created from sixteen pieces of paper mounted on linen, engraved with hand-colored images placed in eighty-eight squares. These squares are set in a flat spiral format going around the “board” with the rules engraved at the center. The rules and directions on how to play can be found online, which is how I wrote the scenes in which the game features as part of the story.
I hope you have enjoyed this romance. As you have probably guessed, Guthrie’s story is next. I look forward to revealing how misunderstood this man really is and to giving him the happily-ever-after he truly deserves.
Until then, happy reading!
Acknowledgments
It takes more than an author to grasp an idea and transform it into a book. My name might be on the cover, but there’s a whole team of spectacular people behind me, each with his or her own incredible skills and experience. Their faith in me and in my stories is invaluable, and since they do deserve to be recognized for their work, I
’d like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their constant help and support.
To my editor extraordinaire, Nicole Fischer: your edits and advice have helped this story shine. Thank you so much for your insight and for believing in my ability to pull this off.
To my copy editor, Eleanor Mikucki; publicists Libby Collins, Pam Spengler-Jaffee, and Kayleigh Webb; marketing associate, Lauren Lauzon; and director of marketing, Angela Craft, thank you so much for all that you do and for offering guidance and support whenever it was needed.
I would also like to thank the amazing artist who created this book’s stunning cover. Chris Cocozza has truly succeeded in capturing the mood of The Infamous Duchess and the way in which I envisioned both Henry and Viola looking—such a beautiful job!
To my fabulous beta readers, Dee Foster, Susan Lucas, Barb Hoffarth and Jacqueline Ang, whose insight has been tremendously helpful in strengthening the story, thank you so much!
Another big thank-you goes to Nancy Mayer for her assistance. Whenever I’m faced with a question regarding the Regency era that I can’t answer on my own, I turn to Nancy for advice. Her help is invaluable.
My family and friends deserve my thanks as well, especially for reminding me to take a break occasionally, to step away from the computer and just unwind—I would be lost without you.
And to you, dear reader—thank you so much for taking the time to read this story. Your support is, as always, hugely appreciated!
About the Author
Born in Denmark, SOPHIE BARNES spent her youth traveling with her parents to wonderful places all around the world. She’s lived in five different countries, on three different continents, and speaks Danish, English, French, Spanish, and Romanian. But, most impressive of all, she’s been married to the same man three times—in three different countries and in three different dresses. When she’s not busy dreaming up her next romance novel, Sophie enjoys spending time with her family, swimming, cooking, gardening, watching romantic comedies and, of course, reading.
www.SophieBarnes.com
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By Sophie Barnes
Novels
The Infamous Duchess
The Illegitimate Duke
The Duke of Her Desire
A Most Unlikely Duke
His Scandalous Kiss
The Earl’s Complete Surrender
Lady Sarah’s Sinful Desires
The Danger in Tempting an Earl
The Scandal in Kissing an Heir
The Trouble with Being a Duke
The Secret Life of Lady Lucinda
There’s Something About Lady Mary
Lady Alexandra’s Excellent Adventure
How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back
Novellas
Mistletoe Magic (from Five Golden Rings: A Christmas Collection)
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
the infamous duchess. Copyright © 2019 by Sophie Barnes. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Digital Edition APRIL 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-284975-5
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-284974-8
Cover design by Guido Caroti
Cover illustration by Paul Stinson
Cover photo: Michael Frost (couple); theancienthome.com (chair)
Avon, Avon & logo, and Avon Books & logo are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
HarperCollins is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
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