Sauce
for the Gander
By
Jayne Davis
A duel. An ultimatum. An arranged
marriage.
England, 1777
Will, Viscount Wingrave, whiles away his time gambling
and bedding married women, thwarted in his wish to serve his country by his
controlling father.
News that his errant son has fought a duel with a jealous
husband is the last straw for the Earl of Marstone. He decrees that Will must
marry. The earl’s eye lights upon Connie Charters, unpaid housekeeper and
drudge for a poor but socially ambitious father who cares only for the
advantage her marriage could bring him.
Will and Connie meet for the first time at the altar. But
Connie wants a husband who will love and respect her, not a womaniser and a
gambler.
Their new home,
on the wild coast of Devonshire, conceals dangerous secrets that threaten them
and the nation. Can Will and Connie overcome the forces against them and forge
a happy life together?
Excerpt
Late that afternoon Connie was summoned
once more to the study, where the lowering sun slanted a pink light through the
windows. Her father sat behind his desk, a small pile of papers before him and
a rare expression of satisfaction on his face.
“Sit down,
Constance. I have good news for you.”
That sounded
ominous.
“You are
about to improve your situation in the world. Lord Marstone came today to agree
your marriage arrangements.”
Connie
stared at him. “Marriage?” To the fat old man with a gouty foot?
No.
“Yes, yes.
Marriage!” His complacent smirk faded. “You should be thanking me. That is what
all young women should aspire to, marrying well.”
Nausea rose
in her throat. “Papa, he’s old enough to be—” She bit her lip against her
words, and against rising panic. He was old enough to be her father, yes, but
Charters wouldn’t see that as an impediment.
“Ha! No,
girl. The marriage is to his son. I’ll have a viscountess for a daughter, a
countess one day.”
The son who fights duels over loose
women? She closed her eyes
for a moment—that could be worse.
“But Papa, I
have never even seen him!”
“What
difference does that make? It’s all arranged, you ungrateful girl.” He tapped
the papers on his desk. “The contract is signed and witnessed, and irrevocable.
You will be married at Eversham on Monday, at eleven…”
Three days?
Her father
talked on, his tone gloating, but she was no longer listening. Was she even to
meet her future husband before the ceremony? Was it truly irrevocable? What if
she told her father—no, told the earl—some fiction about a lover, that she was
no longer—
“Constance!”
She started
as her father’s hand slammed onto the desk. His smile was completely gone now,
a vein bulging in one temple.
“Some
gratitude would be fitting,” he spat. “It’s a better match than you could ever
have hoped to make. Get your things packed up, and make sure you don’t disgrace
me on Monday. Now get out of my sight!”
Tears
pricking her eyes, Connie got to her feet and left the room. In the hallway she
hesitated, clenching her hands into fists so that her nails dug into her palms.
She’d be alone in her room, but that wasn’t what she needed—instead, she turned
the other way and strode out of the house, out of the gate and across the
fields.
***
Another excerpt
from Chapter 1, can be read at the end of my post on Duelling and its place in
history. Read the excerpt HERE!
Jayne Davis
Jayne Davis writes historical
romances set in the late
Georgian/Regency era, published as both ebooks and
paperbacks.
She was hooked on Jane Austen and
Georgette Heyer as
a teenager, and longed to write similar novels herself.
Real
life intervened, and she had several
careers, including as a non-fiction author
under another
name. That wasn't quite the writing career she had
in mind...
Finally, she got around to polishing
up stories written for her own amusement in
long winter evenings, and became
the kind of author she’d dreamed of in her
teens. She is now working on the
first few books in the Marstone Series, set in
the late Georgian/early Regency
period.
Good luck with your new release, Jayne. The excerpt has hooked me and it will be going on my TBR list.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck with your New Release!!!
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