What Society doesn’t know …
Meet Julian Carlisle, the Duke of Lyonsdale, Gabriel Pearce, the Duke of Winterbourne, and Phineas Attwood, the Earl of Hartwick.
In the eyes of the Ton, these three gentlemen are handsome, upstanding men who—mostly!—play by the rules. But what Society doesn’t know is that behind closed doors these three men are living scandalous lives and conducting sinfully scandalous affairs!
Read Julian’s story first in An Unsuitable Duchess
Available now
And look for Gabriel and Hart’s stories, coming soon!
I’ve been interested in history since I was young, and that interest was fuelled by visits to many museums.
The idea for this story came to me while I was visiting Washington Irving’s home in Tarrytown, New York. I confess I have a bit of a historical crush on Irving, who was one of America’s first internationally acclaimed authors. For a time he lived in London, during the Regency era, and also served as a diplomat there in the last few years of the reign of George IV. While hearing about Irving’s time in London I began to imagine what life might have been like for the daughter of such a man. I’d also often wondered about the courtship of the first American woman to breach the walls of the English aristocracy. With these two thoughts in my head, this story was born.
While writing this book I used some creative licence, and I changed the name of the United States Minister to Britain who served in 1818 from Richard Rush to the fictitious Mr Forrester.
If you’re interested in learning more about some of the historical details in this book, please visit my website at lauriebenson.net and click on the link to my blog. You can search An Unsuitable Duchess for relevant articles. And while you’re there please subscribe to my newsletter for information about forthcoming books.
I hope you enjoy An Unsuitable Duchess, which is the first book in my Secret Lives of the Ton series.
An Unsuitable Duchess
Laurie Benson
LAURIE BENSON is an award-winning historical romance author and Golden Heart® finalist. She began her writing career as an advertising copywriter, where she learned more than anyone could ever want to know about hot dogs and credit score reports. When she isn’t at her laptop, avoiding laundry, Laurie can be found browsing in museums or taking ridiculously long hikes with her husband and two sons. You can visit her at lauriebenson.net.
I’ll always be grateful to my wonderful editor, Kathryn Cheshire, for giving me this opportunity and for helping me bring Julian and Katrina into the world. Thanks for your guidance and support. You’re the best! And thank you to everyone at Mills & Boon Historical, especially Linda Fildew, Nic Caws and Krista Oliver, for all that you’ve done for me.
Thanks, Courtney Miller-Callihan, for having my back and for just being you.
To the history bloggers and the people who answered my historical questions—thanks for making research fun.
Lori V. and Lisa D.—this book might not have been written if it weren’t for the two of you. Thanks for encouraging me to put this story to paper and for not running the other way when I asked you to read it—a number of times. I love you both!
To Jen, Mia, Marnee and Teri—thanks for riding this rollercoaster with me and for being such great friends.
Thanks, Mom, for teaching me that I could do anything if I put my mind to it. To my boys—you mean the world to me. Thanks for never complaining when deadlines have had me ordering takeout for dinner. And thank you to my husband for always believing in me and for proving that love at first sight really is possible.
Finally, thank you, kind reader, for picking up this book. I hope this story makes you smile, and that you enjoy this brief armchair vacation in Regency era London.
Contents
Secret Lives of the Ton
Author Note
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mayfair, London, 1818.
Katrina Vandenberg had come to the conclusion that the ballrooms of London were rather dangerous places.
As she stood under a glittering chandelier in the Russian Ambassador’s ornate drawing room she rotated her sore foot beneath her gown. It didn’t help. Anticipating its tenderness, she held her breath and gingerly lowered her slipper to the red and gold rug.
‘Why does Lord Boreham continue to ask me to dance?’ she groaned as her foot began to throb. ‘Each