Category: Caroline Warfield Page 1 of 6

Strange Doings Back Home

On February 7, 2026

December 1816

Wheatton Village, Wiltshire

My dearest Maudie,

I’m writing to tell you our papa has overcome the Fever he suffered. You don’t need to travel home, the roads being unpleasant this time of year, and you so far up north. My Edward continues to managing the drapery with the old man ill. While I shudder to be blunt, the business prospers under his care, no matter what you might have heard from Papa who, as I’ve written is becoming queer in his old age.

You ask for such village news as it is, and I’m happy to send it. Mrs. Mckinny and old Eunice Martin quarreled over church flowers as always, especially this time of year. That solicitor who moved here after you left is stepping out with Eunice Martin’s daughter. The Martin’s are preening even though that boy of theirs got sent down from the fancy school they sent him too.

Squire Archer’s nephew, a decent enough lad, has been hired as the steward up at the big house—yes, Murnane House—and him barely past twenty. I heard it was the Wheatly woman that recommended him, she that was the vicar’s daughter’s by-blow that Lord Arthur took in. A less feminine creature I never met. Imagine the earl listening to a woman like that about something as important as hiring a steward.

Oh. About the earl. The duchess’s brother the Earl of Chadbourn has been seeing to the Murnane estate now the Duke is dead, the duchess being a flutter brain. He’s the boy’s guardian. Making Johnny Archer a steward isn’t the oddest thing he’s done. Here’s the most interesting news. The Wheatlys over at Songbird Cottage have been visiting at the big house. Do you remember that ever happening before? I don’t. The old duke and the most recent one never allowed it. After all, when the vicar’s daughter disappeared and came back with a child, the old man had conniptions. Forbade his sons to have anything to do with her. Disgrace he called it and all of Wheatton knew it What did Lord Arthur do but up and marry the woman. Th’old duke called it a disgrace. Now they’re up at Murnane House for dinner as bold as you please. No good can come of that!

Papa says to tell you he’s dying. I send you his words and suggest you ignore him. No point you trekking all the way here from Yorkshire and bunking in with Ed and I. We have little enough room with Papa underfoot.

Will write again when there is news

Your sister,

Esther

About the Book

Family Honor, Book One Honor at Heart

Two passions rule Will Landrum’s life: family and a devotion to the land and those who depend on it. The only benefit of being Earl of Chadbourn that matters to him is the right to care for those things. Carrying family burdens can be lonely, however, without a life partner.

Catherine Wheatly’s mother married her beloved Papa when Cath was ten. Her dubious background has kept her single. No one ever had to explain to Cath that base-born daughters have few marriage prospects. She knew. She contented herself being the best land steward in the county, helping Papa with his research, and raising her two brothers.

Trapped by his brother-in-law’s death into responsibility for his traumatized nephew, grieving sister, and an estate gone to ruin, loneliness overwhelms Will. The first rate husbandry of a neighboring farm and Catherine, who runs it, draw him like a moth to a flame. Her background means nothing to him, especially when he learns what his family has done. With Christmas coming, can he repair the damaged estate and far more damaged family? Dare he hope for love in the bargain?

This new edition of A Dangerous Nativity, fully edited and updated, with a new epilogue launches March 24, 2026. It is available for pre-order now.

Preorder from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Family-Honor-at-Heart-ebook/dp/B0GKHVMTJY

OR various other retailers: https://books2read.com/u/3JdJwQ

About the Author

Caroline Warfield – Authorr

Award winning author, Caroline Warfield, grew up in a peripatetic army family, and the need to travel never left her. After a varied career (largely around libraries and technology) she retired to the urban wilds of eastern Pennsylvania to be closer to family and to write. She remains a traveler and adventurer, enamored of owls, books, history, and beautiful gardens (but not the act of gardening). She writes family centered, emotionally rich, sensual stories set in the Regency and Victorian periods.

Find Caroline on the Web:
Website http://www.carolinewarfield.com/
Amazon Author http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/
Good Reads http://bit.ly/1C5blTm
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/WarfieldFellowTravelers
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caroline-warfield
You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCycyfKdNnZlueqo8MlgWyWQ
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gma-roddy.bsky.social

Another Encroaching Caulfield

By Bluestocking Belles

On November 8, 2025

In Caroline Warfield, Teatime Tattler

Dear readers, new events have brought an old scandal, one you may have thought had faded into the shadows, back into the light.

You remember no doubt the immense uproar caused by the Earl of Clarion’s outrageous will, that named his, shall we say, “informal”, offspring. Worse was the furor caused when his son, the new earl, appeared to welcome the lot of them as if they were true siblings.

Recently, one Seth Caulfield, boldly bearing the earl’s surname, appeared in London wearing the uniform of a naval officer of sorts. One gathered he bore the rank of surgeon, a warranted rank, not one of a gentleman to be sure. He had the look of a Caulfield about him, however, and no sooner than he had appeared than he was welcomed to the earl’s table and given full support. It appeared that another one of the, if you’ll pardon our language, Clarion Bastards has appeared on the scene. (I apologize if ladies take offense but we do like to speak the truth, and the man is well, not legitimate at all.)

Loyalty is well and good, but really, should such a blot on the family escutcheon be been pushed forward? For that is what the earl did, introducing the man to some of society’s best as his brother and inviting him to social events and house parties. One even heard the family pushed him toward a university, no doubt to raise his status from mere surgeon to physician.

The highest sticklers did not, of course receive him. But then, the highest don’t approve of Clarion himself. The earl’s radical politics caused more outrage in recent years, quieting the old scandal.

At least the newest Caulfield seems to have done society a favor by withdrawing from London. Rumor has it he has gone off to some obscure village in the north to practice medecine. We can only hope he stays there!
*****

Seth Caulfield is the hero of “The Angel’s Announcement, a Holiday Homicide,” in Merry Belles, the Bluestocking Belles’ newest collection.

You can order it here: https://books2read.com/u/mvRGPj

About the Story

Sybilla Somer was seventeen when Seth Caulfield disappeared without a word. For nine long years she wondered why. Now he’s back and she needs his help to solve a murder. There is no one else to do it.

Seth hadn’t been much older when Sibby’s father and brother drove him out with shouts of “bloody presuming bastard.” They delivered him to press gangs in Great Yarmouth. He assumed she knew. She didn’t, and she certainly didn’t care that his birth was irregular. The navy set him to helping the ship’s surgeon, a stroke of luck. He has returned a warranted surgeon himself.

They found the shepherd eight days before Christmas. Dead. When Sybilla and Seth are thrown together to solve the murder, to care for a small angel with a broken ankle — and to face the hurt between them, will the work and the season heal what lies between them?

About the Author

Caroline Warfield, former army brat, librarian, traveler, history-lover, and storyteller is a Bluestocking Belle. The story of the Earl of Clarion’s Bastards, the new earl’s radical politics, and his reconciliation with his siblings was told in the Ashmead Heirs Series. “The Angel’s Announcement” brings a lovely addition to their ranks.

A Widow of Questionable Virtue

By Bluestocking Belles

On June 28, 2025

In Caroline Warfield, Teatime Tattler

Dearest Mr. Clemens, thank you for the delightful Tea you arranged for my sister and I before we left London. As you predicted, there is much delicious information to be had at Sir Peter and Lady Somerville’s house party in the lovely Sussex countryside. My sister Prudence will have already alerted you to the goings on of the night rider Captain Midnight. There will be more on that subject!

My purpose this morning is to inform you about one particular story of potential interest to your readers. A stranger appeared in the nearby village a week or so ago. While he appears to be a gentleman, he is not, in fact a guest of the Somervilles. He has been staying at the common hotel all this time. He has taken close, even obsessive interest in a woman who lives alone with only her small son for company.

Mrs. Tessa Fleming is a war widow and as such should be admired, but really, is it proper for her to be living on her own? The stranger has made repeated visits to her home, and I’ve heard not one word of a chaperone. The ladies here about, both of high and low estate generally attest to the woman’s virtue. Still, one must wonder about these visits by a man of particularly attractive visage and form, and the ladies watch the situation avidly.

What led me to write today is that the identity of the stranger has been revealed. He introduces himself as Titus Flavius Brannock, lately major in His Majesty’s 11^th Dragoons. What was revealed last night is that he is the brother of the Earl of Astleigh! Lady Somerville, of course, immediately insisted that he be her guest when she discovered this. He will be at the closing ball. I am agog to discover how he will react when he finds that the widow has been invited also.

There will be more

Your most devoted correspondent,

Abigail Danvers

About the Book: Love’s Perilous Road

Travellers, a house party, smugglers, spies–and a mysterious highwayman. Who is the infamous Captain Moonlight? And how many lives will he change–for good or for ill?

Pre-order it for August: https://books2read.com/u/mqx0W6

About the Caroline Warfield’s Story: Charred Hope

Major Titus Brannock believes the charred painting that fell into his hands must be valuable to its owner. When he finds her, he finds a true treasure. Tessa Fleming’s first instinct was to burn the miniature her late husband scorned, but the admiration she sees in Titus’s eyes gives her different ideas. Perhaps the little gem will give them both a pearl beyond price.

Poison and Plots at Hartwell Hall

By Bluestocking Belles

On January 25, 2025

In Bluestocking Belles, Caroline Warfield, Teatime Tattler

A January afternoon, offices of The Teatime Tattler

Betsy Carmichael, recently dismissed from one of London’s most prestigious addresses wrung her hands and bit her lip.

Clemens, the Teatime Tattler’s editor, glared back. One of his underlings had let this one in. What she had had better be good. He had his doubts. “Well, what do you have to say.”

She rubbed her nose with her sleeve. “Ye’ll pay me, right? The old witch tossed me out.”

“A dismissed servant isn’t gossip. If your story is good, I’ll pay you a shilling.”

“Two!” the cheeky chit demanded.

“Tell me what you know,” Clemens said firmly.

“Her ladyship is back from one o’them country parties up north. Hartwell Hall. I remember that clearly,” Betsy said.

“Ladyship? You mean Lady Arncastle?” One of the worst gossips in the Ton. Loose with the facts, but a good source of dirt. “Who was there?”

“She mostly talked about that menace woman. Said she poisoned her cousin. That has to be worth two shillings.”

“Wait. Did you say poison?” Clemens pried his memory open. Hartwell — the earl was the uncle of that Westcott girl, the one they called the Westcott Menace after half the Ton got sick on her food at one of the Duchess of Haverford’s charity dos.

“The girl tossed her breakfast all over the ice in front of the Earl of Ridgemont. He went tearing right though the house, her ladyship says. Carried the girl right up to her bedroom without a by your leave. Her ladyship says she was afraid to eat a bit the whole time after that, what with the menace around.”

“Ridgemont. Isn’t he a duke’s heir?”

Betsy nodded eagerly. “And there’s more too. He and the menace were caught together in some weird closet full of poisons. Bottles and boxes of stuff. Old Hartwell had a fit, her ladyship says. Had his servants clean it all out and get rid of it. Her ladyship says she was trying to kill Ridgemont, or trap him or something. I say trap more likely. Who’d kill of a future duke if you could drag him to the altar?”

Clemens rubbed his chin. Ancaster was not reliable, but where there is smoke, there’s fire. It might be worth sending someone north to investigate. Or better just to sniff around Hartwell’s London house and other relatives.

He hustled the girl out of the office. She got her shilling and. in a moment of charity, he dropped a sixpence on top.

*****

Snowed by the Wildflower

Belinda Westcott doesn’t want to injure the Earl of Ridgemont. She merely wants to humiliate him. After all, one good prank deserves a payback. How could she anticipate that it would go so terribly wrong, or that he would turn out to be nothing like she expected?

Skilled in both chemistry and cooking, Belinda happily hides in her aunt’s kitchen rather than risk embarrassment at the ongoing house party. The unexpected appearance of the earl and a skating party present the perfect opportunity to embarrass him in front of some snooty society miss. Unfortunately, his partner is Belinda’s own cousin, and even worse, the cousin drinks the hot chocolate—laced with emetics—meant for the earl.

As plain Major Conlyn, John had sunk into a morass of dissipation when first released from the army. Neither his actions nor his companions make him proud. The death of a beloved cousin shocked him back to sense. It also made him an earl and the heir to his grandfather, a duke. He’s been ordered to find a wife and settle down. He wouldn’t mind, but now he’s surrounded by flighty debutantes and their grasping mothers. The one woman who interests him avoids him. She acts as if she despises him. Is it possible he did something when out of control that he ought to apologize for, something he can’t recall?

Preorder at various vendors for January 28 release.

https://books2read.com/snowedbywallflower

Who Owns the Recipe?

By Bluestocking Belles

On September 2, 2023

In Caroline Warfield, Teatime Tattler

Mr. Clemens,

You probably know we’re used to toffs and nobs at The Willow and the Rose, the best inn on the Nottingham Road. Mr. Benson, the one that runs the place, always teaches his folk to treat every customer like he were a duke. That way I figure we won’t accidently insult one who comes all disguised or what not. Last week we had a real one. He came in plain sort of clothes, but he were a duke all right. I know because I remember him from before, but I won’t say his name. I call him His Nibs, but trust me, he’s the real thing.

The Willow and the Rose

His Nibs came looking for his stepmother, foolish man. She were in Lunnon as always. He must have forgot. The earl were gone too, what with Pariament going on. Things were quiet in Ashmead. So His Nibs sits for two days in the snug in the corner by hisself drinking Mr. Benson’s ale.

Mr. B, he watches him close. Asked if it would help to talk. His Nibs sez no, there’s nothing to can be done about his problems. Sez his brother is alive and that’s that. I don’t know what that made him look like his favorite dog died, but it did.

After a couple of days Annie Morris, our cook, sez we should try something different “Before the poor lad drowns himself in all that ale.” She sends me out with strong coffee and some of her special buns. He looks at me and frowns, but he takes them anyway.

Here’s the thing. Ten minutes later the lord is on his feet and bursting right into the kitchen. “Who made these?” he wants to know. He sez they’re the best buns he’s had since Lunnon. “Where did you learn to make these?” he asks while wolfing down another one.

Well, I’m thinking that brought him back to life. Annie’s buns are good but I dint think they were that good. But then he asks her again about where she got her recipe, and our Annie turns bright red. She looks down at her dough and sez her aunt taught her. When she tries to shoo him away, he asks for a plate, and she gives him one piled high.

Now the Willow and the Rose is famous for two things: its ale and Annie’s buns. She looks determined not to tell His Nibs her secrets, lest he try to steal them. “Who is this aunt of yours?” I ask. “I thought you grew up in Ashmead.”

“Spent time with my aunt, didn’t I?” she snaps at me.

“In Lunnon?” I ask.

She orders me off and mutters something under her breath. I am sure I heard “Chelsea.” I don’t know for sure, Mr. Clemens, but I think our Annie stole her recipe from the Chelsea Bun House. Wouldn’t your readers want to know?

Sincerely,

Miss Gertie Potts, server at The Willow and the Rose

The Recipe

A favorite of characters in Caroline Warfield’s Ashmead Heirs Series, the buns were indeed a famous treat from the Chelsea Bun House. Chelsea, once a town, was being absorbed into London at about that time. The Bun House made a current bun very similar to modern Cinnamon buns, but smaller, tighter, and seasoned with nutmeg. You can find Caroline’s modern attempt at regency style current buns in Dragonblade’s Historical Recipe Cookbook, full of recipes from some of your favorite Historical Romance Authors.

The pre-order price is 99 cents. https://www.amazon.com/Dragonblades-Historical-Recipe-Cookbook-favorite-ebook/dp/B0C7DT5HHM

The Duke

When the Duke of Glenmoor finds his long-lost older brother alive he is over joyed. When he discovers that brother may be legitimate and not a bastard after all, he is confused. Does that leave him a Duke in Name Only?

Knowing his title was bestowed on him fraudulently, he embarks on a journey to the wilds of North America in an effort to succeed on his own. It doesn’t go well. He has no idea what a fish out of water he will be, but he is determined to make something of himself. He’s a man of worth—but he needs to learn that for himself, and misfortune is the best teacher. Misfortune, and Nan Archer who grew up in that world and knows better than most how to stand on her own two feet.

Available for Free with Kindle Unlimited or to purchase: