To this seasoned reporter, the entire episode was shameful, dear reader. After returning from the war, Christian, the Duke of Randford, arrived at his solicitor’s office bearing the will of his late half brother, Lord Meriwether Vareck. Once he arrived, the duke faced the most disastrous of calamities. Rumors abound that his late half brother created a scandal to end all scandals. Yet, it appears the duke is also making one of his own.
It seems the celebrated war hero duke failed to offer his sincerest condolences to the first bereaved widow, Lady Meriwether Vareck, the former Katherine Greer. For the record, the Duke of Randford never bothered to meet his late half brother’s wife before he delivered the will. Nor had he met his late brother’s other wives.
Indeed, you read the words correctly. The duke’s half brother fancied wives. He had three tucked away in different corners of England. He couldn’t add to his collection after he’d drowned in a mud puddle during a stormy midnight steeplechase.
Fortunately for the three widows, the exalted duke had a change of heart and called upon them the next day. A spectator walking nearby Lady Meriwether’s home said that the duke had three bouquets of his prized roses in hand. I suspect they were for the three widows. Ah, to be a bird at the window for that titillating conversation, dear reader. One source informed me that the duke offered to repay their lost dowries his half brother spent. However, I find such talk unreliable. Who would want to have anything to do with such women? They face ruination in every sense of the word.
To compound matters, who exactly is Lady Meriwether? No one has heard anything about the woman except she owns a linen business. It’s unseemly she invited the other wives to live with her. Sources share the females of polite society highly regard Lady Meriwether. Even the Prince Regent has even expressed an interest in having her decorate his Royal Pavilion.
But the scandal grows. One of the solicitor’s law clerks whispered that the duke and Lady Meriwether appeared to be a little too cozy with one another as they try to find a solution to this disgrace. It is this intrepid reporter’s opinion that both should review the Church of England’s rules of affinity and consanguinity. That should put a stop to such nonsense.
Did I mention the second wife is in a delicate condition? Did you know the highest echelons of society once considered the third wife a diamond of the first water during her first Season? Oh, how that diamond has dulled.
The Duke of Randford, who has won the highest regard of all our countrymen, will have difficulty resolving this indignity. But as we discover more about the happenings of the three wives, our loyal readers shall be the first to know.
A DUKE IN TIME
“If…looking for something new with Austen’s spirit, humor, and dashing heroes, they can’t do better than MacGregor.” – Entertainment Weekly
A Duke in Time is the first book in a three-story arc that will have you rooting for leading heroines, searching for lost dowries, and falling for swoon-worthy heroes.
Katherine Vareck is in for the shock of her life when she learns upon her husband Meri’s accidental death that he had married two other women. Her entire business, along with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a royal supplier, is everything she’s been working for and now could be destroyed if word leaks about the three wives.
Meri’s far more upstanding brother, Christian, Duke of Randford, has no earthly clue how to be of assistance. He spent the better part of his adult years avoiding Meri and the rest of his good-for-nothing family, so to be dragged back into the fold is…problematic. Even more so is the intrepid and beautiful Katherine, whom he cannot be falling for because she’s Meri’s widow. Or can he?
With a textile business to run and a strong friendship forming with Meri’s two other wives, Katherine doesn’t have time for much else. But there’s something about the warm but compellingly taciturn Christian that draws her to him. When an opportunity to partner in a business venture brings them even closer, they’ll have to face their pasts if they want to share each other’s hearts and futures.
Available at these fine retailers:
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FZ8B348/
Barnes and Noble https://bit.ly/2JUhXRj
iBook’s https://apple.co/36lxQb0
Google Books https://bit.ly/3kdhWEB
Love’s Sweet Arrow: https://shop.lovessweetarrow.com/jannamacgregor
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