And it was a wonderful existence.
“Well, if plain is your goal, you have succeeded,” Bea declared.
Nora rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Bea. As always, your honesty is valued.”
“Quite so.” Bea nodded efficiently and stood back with a proud smile. “Now. Good luck today. You’ve worked hard and you deserve this.”
Nora stepped forward to embrace the maid she had so long ago insisted she did not want in her life. So very many things had changed since then. She never thought she wanted a husband. She never thought she wanted children. How very wrong she had been on all those counts . . . and how happy she was in her wrongness today.
After inspecting herself one final time in the mirror, Nora nodded at her reflection. She felt suitably attired and ready for her first day. Not only her first day, but the first day for all female medical students in Great Britain. It was a momentous occasion. Historic even.
She would be entering the London School of Medicine for Women as one of its first students since the passing of the new medical act allowing the licensing of all qualified persons to be doctors, regardless of gender.
She descended the stairs with a flurry of butterflies spinning through her stomach. She entered the dining room to find it already occupied. Her husband sat with their four-year-old daughter on his lap. They ate from a bowl of fruit. Little Theodora took turns feeding herself and then her father with her usual air of confidence.
“Mama!” Theodora cried merrily, waving a half-eaten strawberry in the air.
“Oh, Con,” Nora chided. “Her face is a mess.”
Nora rounded the table and picked up a napkin to wipe her young daughter’s juice-stained face. Satisfied she had wiped it as clean as possible, she bent down to press a kiss on her daughter’s berry-scented cheek. “Good morning, poppet.” Then, she turned to her husband, accepting his proffered kiss.
“You are looking very fine today, Nora.” His eyes twinkled with amusement and she knew he knew how much she had agonized over her choice of attire. “How are you feeling this morning?” He stared closely at her face. “Excited?”
“Mostly nervous,” she said as she lowered herself into the chair beside him and Theodora. “Only in the best way though.”
“I am certain you shall astound them with your knowledge and wit.”
She served herself some tea and toast. Her stomach might be a riot of butterflies, but she needed sustenance to get her through this day. “Oh, I don’t know about that. All the other students will be very clever, too.” Reaching for the jam, she began to generously lather it on her bread.
“But how many have your experience? Your practical skills shall mark you as a natural at once.”
“You are only making me more nervous in saying that.” She crunched down on her toast and chewed a little anxiously.
Con sent her an affectionate wink and readjusted their daughter on his lap so that he could reach across the table and give her hand a small comforting squeeze. “Just think of that brazen creature who forged her name and dispensed medical advice to all and sundry because she did not question her competence. That woman had faith in her expertise.”
She laughed lightly. “Amazing how that was once a black mark against me and now you praise me for it.”
“I was an ass then. Now I know better.” He shrugged lightly. “It took me some time to understand that you’re as brilliant as you are beautiful.”
Theodora chose that moment to parrot her father. “Ass, ass, ass, ass, ass.”
Nora laughed harder, shaking her head. “See what you’ve done now.”
Constantine shrugged unworriedly and pressed a kiss to Theodora’s cheek. “She’ll soon forget it.”
“If you say so.” Nora snorted dubiously and lathered a fresh slice of toast with jam, extending it to Theodora. The child grasped the toast and greedily bit into it, filling her mouth with something other than expletives.
“Mmm,” Theodora moaned in approval.
The clock tolled the hour and Nora rose hastily. “Goodness! I need to go.”
Constantine pushed up from the table. “Let us escort you out.”
The three of them departed the dining room. Theodora latched onto Nora’s hand. In the entry hall, Nora squatted to embrace her daughter, inhaling deeply her sweet little girl scent that was now mixed with the aroma of tart blackberries. “Be a good girl today. I will see you at dinner, my love.”
When it did not appear that Theodora would let go of Nora, Constantine stepped in and relieved Nora of their daughter. “Let’s clean up and get ready for the park, poppet.”
Theodora clapped her chubby hands at the prospect of the park. She loved her outings.
With their daughter in his arms, Constantine bent down and pressed a lingering kiss to Nora’s lips. “Enjoy your day. Play nicely. Make friends. Learn.” He pressed another quick kiss to her mouth. “And remember. We will be here for you when you get home.”
Author’s Note
If you’re curious about the Duchess of Birchwood’s mysterious malady, allow me to enlighten you. Not very long ago a member of my family was diagnosed with an inflammatory disorder called polymyalgia. Incidentally, when I mentioned this in conversation to a friend, I learned that her own mother was also plagued by the same ailment. I had never even heard of this condition, but suddenly I was thinking about it a lot and considering what a challenge it must be for those afflicted.
I don’t profess to be an expert, but (as related to me) the muscle pain can be quite excruciating and most commonly afflicts women over the age of sixty.
Unfortunately, this condition was not identified in the Victorian era. As there is no cure for polymyalgia, and treatment is very limited, there would not have been much relief available in the nineteenth century to help our Duchess of Birchwood . . . but fiction is a wonderful thing. Anything can happen in books and I like to think that Nora not only perfected and fine-tuned her tonic to the benefit of the Duchess of Birchwood, but for all her future patients.
After all, I only write happily-ever-afters.
Of course that is what happened.
About the Author
SOPHIE JORDAN grew up in the Texas hill country where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she’s the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of more than thirty novels. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she’s not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with anything that has a happily ever after.
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By Sophie Jordan
The Rogue Files Series
The Duke Effect
The Virgin and the Rogue
The Duke’s Stolen Bride
This Scot of Mine
The Duke Buys a Bride
The Scandal of It All
While the Duke Was Sleeping
The Devil’s Rock Series
Beautiful Sinner
Beautiful Lawman
Fury on Fire
Hell Breaks Loose
All Chained Up
Historical Romances
All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue
A Good Debutante’s Guide to Ruin
How to Lose a Bride in One Night
Lessons from a Scandalous Bride
Wicked in Your Arms
Wicked Nights with a Lover
In Scandal They Wed
Sins of a Wicked Duke
Surrender to Me
One Night with You
Too Wicked to Tame
Once Upon a Wedding Night
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 duke effect . Copyright © 2020 by Sharie Kohler. 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 NOVEMBER 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-288540-1
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-288545-6
Cover design by Patricia Barrow
Cover illustration by Jon Paul Ferrara
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