CAROLE MORTIMER was born and lives in the UK. She is married to Peter and they have six sons. She has been writing for Mills & Boon since 1978 and is the author of almost two hundred books. She writes for both the Mills & Boon® Historical and Modern™ lines. Carole is a USA TODAY bestselling author and in 2012 she was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for her ‘outstanding contribution to literature’. Visit Carole at www.carolemortimer.co.uk or on Facebook.
A Regency Lady’s Scandal
The Lady Gambles
The Lady Forfeits
Carole Mortimer
Table of Contents
Carole Mortimer
April 1817—Palazzo Brizzi, Venice, Italy
‘Have I mentioned to either of you gentlemen that I had thought of offering for one of Westbourne’s daughters?’
Lord Dominic Vaughn, Earl of Blackstone, and one of the two gentlemen referred to by their host, Lord Gabriel Faulkner, found himself gaping inelegantly across the breakfast table at the other man in stunned disbelief. A glance at their friend Nathaniel Thorne, Earl of Osbourne, showed him to be no less surprised at the announcement as he sat with his tea cup arrested halfway between saucer and mouth.
Indeed, it was one of those momentous occasions when it seemed that time itself should cease. All movement. All sound. Indeed, when the very world itself should simply have stopped turning.
It had not, of course; the gondoliers