Category: Jude Knight Page 10 of 17

Which Maiden Will the Viscount Choose?

On September 26, 2020

Yes, dear reader, the rumour about London’s newest and most exotic viscount is true. We have it from one who heard it from the Duke of W.’s own lips.

Viscount E. has been ordered choose a bride and marry as soon as possible.

One sees the Duke’s point. The man is heir (after his father) to his grandfather’s title, and he is (not to put too fine a point on it) a foreigner. An English bride as mother of the Duke’s greatgrandchildren, including the one day future duke, would make his existence much more palatable to the high sticklers of Society.

Not that the young viscount is shunned. Far from it. He is handsome (though swarthy) speaks English without an accent, is personable, and is almost certainly extremely rich, if the money now being spent on the much neglected W. estates has anything to say to the matter.

Good looks and fine manners will get him invited to dinner tables and dance floors. Money and the prospect of one of England’s finest titles may assist with the rest. For the moment, the most cautious matchmaking mothers are reserving judgement, waiting to see whether Society’s acceptance will warm beyond reluctant.

But those who have hopes of a duchess in the family may be too late. Our source tells us that Viscount E. has been instructed to marry one of his cousins. Which shall it be? The one known as the Saint of Mayfair? Or Society’s darling, the W. Diamond?

Or, has the prospective groom ideas of his own? His attentions to the sisters of the Earl of H. have not gone unnoticed. Will Lady F. be the viscount’s bride?

Your devoted reporter watches with interest.

***

Excerpt from To Wed a Proper Lady

James had stayed back from the hunt organised for the men in the hopes of spending time with Sophia, and had found out about the charity expedition too late to offer his services. “I am sorry that I missed it,” he said sincerely.

He noted one glaring omission in her descriptions of her preparations for Christmas. “Just a decoration,” she had told him, mendaciously, when he asked about the kissing boughs.

And now pretending to be ignorant of these English Christmas customs was about to pay off. One day, when she was safely his wife, he might admit to Sophia that he and the whole citadel had hung on his father’s tales of an English Christmas, that his mother and her maids had decorated high and low, and his father had led the troops out to find a fitting Yule log to carry home in triumph on Christmas Eve. A harder job in his dry mountains than in this green land.

But this was not the time for that story. Not when Sophia was relaxed and about to pass under a kissing bough that retained its full complement of mistletoe berries.

James suppressed a grin. “Look,” he said, at the opportune time, pointing up. “My Kaka—my father—told me about these.”

She stopped, as he had intended, and with a single stride, he had reached her, wrapped her in his arms, and captured the lips that had been haunting his dreams this past eight months.

And she kissed him back. For a moment… for one long glorious moment, while time stood still and the world ceased to exist, Sophia Belvoir kissed him back.

***

The Children of the Mountain King series

In 1812, high Society is rocked by the return of the Earl of Sutton, heir to the dying Duke of Winshire. James Winderfield, Earl of Sutton, Winshire’s third and only surviving son, has long been thought dead, but his reappearance is not nearly such a shock as those he brings with him, the children of his deceased Persian-born wife and fierce armed retainers.

This series begins with a prequel novella (Paradise Regained) telling the love story of James senior and Mahzad, then leaps two decades to a series of six novels as the Winderfield offspring and their cousins search for acceptance and love. It is free to download from most ebook retailers.

The first novel, To Wed a Proper Lady, tells the story of James junior, the Viscount Elfingham. It was published in April this year and is available from those same retailers.

The novella Melting Matilda (this year’s Bluestocking Belles’ story published in Fire and Frost) is also set in the world of The Children of the Mountain King, and happens after To Wed a Proper Lady and novel 2 (coming soon), To Mend the Broken Hearted.

See the book page on my website for more about my published books. https://judeknightauthor.com/books/

Don’t tell a soul!

By Jude Knight

On August 30, 2020

In Jude Knight, Teatime Tattler

My dear, I have just heard the most scandalous thing, but you cannot tell a soul. Do you remember me speaking of Lady Selby? A poor little dab of a woman. Wouldn’t say boo to a goose. Of course, I befriended the countess. It was an act of charity, for she was not at all up to snuff.

How she captured herself an earl is beyond me, especially a rogue like Selby.

Not that he was faithful to her, for of course he wasn’t. She told me herself that one of his mistresses had the audacity to visit her in her own home. Can you imagine! Of course, the woman claimed that Selby had tricked her with a false marriage ceremony.

“Nonsense, dear,” I told her. “You mark my words; it’ll be a scheme to inveigle money out of you.”

Well, dear, it turns out that I may have been wrong, for I met the unfortunate female just as she was about to leave the manor with her two daughters in a cart bound for who knows where.

She seems to believe that Selby played the same trick on her, and if that is true, then she is not the countess at all, but just another fallen woman!

It is such a pity, for I am known to have been a friend of the countess, insofar as she had friends. To discover that I have been so taken in! I am deeply upset, as you must imagine. I tell you, next time I see Selby, I shall be very inclined to tell him precisely what I think of him, whatever his rank in Society.

The female who thought she was Lady Selby has left the neighbourhood, thank goodness. It would have been unpleasant to give her the cut direct, for it appears to have been not her fault at all, poor creature.

I won’t add to her burdens by spreading her story about, but I just had to tell you, my dear friend. And do show my letter to your sister, for I know she will be interested.

But apart from that, don’t tell a soul.

Lord Selby’s shocking behaviour is a subplot in the historical mystery novel Revealed in Mist, by Jude Knight. The former Lady Selby and Chastity Virtue, the other false wife mentioned, will one day also have their stories told. So many stories, so little time.

Characters Demand Happy Endings

By Bluestocking Belles

On July 18, 2020

In Jude Knight, Teatime Tattler

“She has been rather busy,” Barney Somerville commented. As a vicar, he felt it incumbent on him to be fair, anxious though he was to know how his story turned out. “She has retired, left her old house, spent months house-hunting, moved into her new house, and is now renovating.”

Lady Ruth Winderfield was prowling impatiently along the spaces between the lines in her manuscript. “That’s easy for you to say, Reverend. You and Theo are first on her list. She has to have you done by early next month.” She bit back what she was going to say next, but the Marquis of Aldridge guessed her complaint.

“You and Val were about to enjoy your first kiss, were you not? And now it has been months. But take heart. She must finish your story before it is my turn.” His smirk turned wry at the edges. “I’ve waited years,” he murmured, almost too low to be heard. For the moment his heart was in the hazel eyes that lingered on the lady he loved. Saint Charlotte, they called her. She had rejected him several times, and how his author was going to resolve this was beyond him.

Otto had been sitting hunched over a tankard of ale, but he looked up at Aldridge’s complaint. “At least you are sure your story will be written one day,” he pointed out. “She doesn’t think she’ll have time for mine. And I read the original at school. It did not turn out well.”

Barney clapped the big dark-skinned man on one rugged shoulder. “She specialises in happy endings, my friend,” he pointed out.

Theo looked up from the game of cards she was playing with Otto’s wife, Desiree. “Why don’t we write a letter?” she suggested. “A summary of our concerns. A manifesto, if you will. We could send it through the Teatime Tattler. I know she reads that.”

Aldridge twirled his empty glass between his fingers. “Dear Jude, your characters are revolting?” he suggested.

“Set aside time to write us now, or we leave.” Otto’s blunt suggestion fell into a brief silence, which Val broke, speaking as Theo’s pen flew across the page at his dictation.

“Dear author, please remember your characters. We are yearning to get out of your head and onto our pages.”

Dear characters and readers. I have missed you all. I’m trying to carve out some time to write each day, and hope to catch up soon. Love you all.

Jude Knight

Protesters Go Too Far

By Bluestocking Belles

On June 13, 2020

In Jude Knight, Teatime Tattler

Dearest Agatha

You will have heard of the shocking acts of public disorder here in our quiet little corner of the world. Dear Mr Horner and I are horrified at the most recent event, when a large group, dressed as savages and armed with axes, invaded private property and destroyed more than nine hundred thousand pounds of goods and the chests those goods were stored in.

The protests in March were bad enough. One must regret the loss of life when the soldiers opened fire on the crowd, but beyond a doubt, the protesters started it when they threw snowballs at a guard outside the Custom House. I think (and Mr Horner agrees with me) that the soldiers in question deserve a strong reprimand for firing on the mob, though we agree that we were not present, and cannot understand how threatening the protestors appeared to the poor soldiers.

However, the protests have escalated, with rocks thrown through windows, printed death threats sent to upright citizens who were just going about their business, and people assaulted and beaten.

Politics have invaded even our drawing rooms and breakfast tables, with social shame awaiting those who dare to continue to imbibe their favourite beverage. One of my friends went so far as to suggest that we should no longer associate, as I refuse to give up a harmless drink to support treasonous mutterings against the rightful actions of government.

Then came the activities of last night. How can any right-thinking person think that a political disagreement justifies the destruction of private property? I shudder to think of the way the perpetrators of the heinous act menaced their way to dominance of the goods by their fearsome appearance and their numbers. The poor sailors on board that ship must have been in fear of their lives.

Of course, I support the right to freedom of speech, but rioting and looting cannot be supported, surely? So Mr Horner says, and I quite agree with him.

I have asked Mr Horner if we might return to London, dearest Agatha. So many people here, however upset they are with the destruction of property, are claiming that the anger behind the act is justified that I fear they may turn to even more violence.

Mr Horner disagrees. He believes that strong action from the government will ensure that everything settles down. He points out that even Mr Washington, who is a leader of the most vocal party of radicals, has spoken strongly against the most recent action, accusing the participants of madness. After all, nobody wants a revolution.

I can only hope that Mr Horner is correct.

I will keep you informed, my dear. Pray for me and for all of those loyal to our beloved Mother Country and the King.

Ever your loving sister

Agnes

(Mrs John Horner)

The Boston Tea Party was one in a series of protests against coercive acts by the government against the citizens of the American colonies. At the time, to be loyal was to want to stay British.

The tea belonged to the East India Company, not to the British government. However, the government had given the Company a monopoly on tea imports to the American colonies.

The stupid Government reaction to the protests meant that they escalated and eventually became full-scale revolution. In light of modern events, I find it intriguing that the destruction of one million dollars (in today’s terms) of private property is now regarded as a heroic act.

7 Myths about the Boston Tea Party

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party

Earl’s Sister Ruined; Society Aghast

By Bluestocking Belles

On May 23, 2020

In Jude Knight, Teatime Tattler

To the Esteemed Editor, The Teatime Tattler, London

Sir, it is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to document the sad fall of a former ornament of our Society.

Your readers will remember Lady S. B., sister to the Earl of Hy., a lady past her first years, and with two scandals already in her past. She has been betrothed twice, and married not at all. On both occasions, the lady has emerged with her reputation intact, but after recent events, one must wonder if we have been over generous to a serpent in our midst.

Be that as it may, Lady S. has continued to enjoy the approval of Society, and has persisted in trading on that approval in pursuit of funding for one of her many causes.

Those enjoying the hospitality of the Duchess of Hfd have recently been treated to the less than edifying spectacle of the half-breed viscount pursuing the Earl of Hy.’s sisters. Or was the pursuit the other way? We thought he preferred the younger, but he was seen kissing the elder. Under the mistletoe, to be sure, but such a kiss, sir!

It takes so little to ruin a lady. One kiss, and a woman past her first years, who might be supposed to have more sense, has eloped with two rakes. Not one, sir, but two. Neither of them the man she kissed.

It is to be hoped her brother will cast her off completely for the sake of her sister, Lady F., though saving that chit’s reputation is probably already a lost cause.

Be that as it may, we can be sure that the worthy leaders of Society can loosen their grips on their pocketbooks.

Editor’s note: Our readers will be pleased to know that the lady who is the subject of this letter was safely conveyed to London, with her maid in attendance. Her wedding followed shortly after. The Teatime Tattler wishes to convey congratulations to the happy couple, now the Earl and Countess of S.

To Wed a Proper Lady

Everyone knows James needs a bride with impeccable blood lines. James needs Sophia’s love, more.

James, eldest son of the Earl of Sutton, must marry to please his grandfather, the Duke of Winshire, and to win social acceptance for himself and his father’s other foreign-born children. But only Lady Sophia Belvoir makes his heart sing, and to win her, he must invite himself to spend Christmas at the home of his father’s greatest enemy: the man who is fighting in Parliament to have his father’s marriage declared invalid and the Winderfield children made bastards.

Sophia keeps secret her tendre for James, Lord Elfingham. After all, the whole of Society knows he is pursuing the younger Belvoir sister, not the older one left on the shelf after two failed betrothals. Even when he asks for her hand in marriage, she still can’t quite believe that he loves her.

Buy links and more information at: https://judeknightauthor.com/books/to-wed-a-proper-lady/

In the following excerpt, Sophia decides to follow James to London.

The duchess excused herself and left, to return after a few moments. “A messenger has come to fetch my son Jonathan. If you will excuse me, my friends, I will go and help him prepare for his trip. Please. Continue the celebrations. I will join you again as soon as I can.”

Sophia followed her into the hall in time to hear Aldridge say, “If you must go, use my yacht. It stands off Margate, but we can be there in two days, and she is faster than anything you’ll pick up in London. You will not have to wait for the Thames tide, either.”

“What you propose is not safe, my darling boy. The Grand Army is in your way. You could be shot as a spy,” the duchess said. “Why, this friend of yours cannot even give you assurance that the grand duchess will not behead you on sight. It is possible that…”

“Mama, all things are possible.” Gren was lit from within, bouncing on the balls of his feet as if his joy were too big to contain. “All things but one. I have tried living without the woman I love, Mama, and that, that is impossible. Anything else, I can do. Wait and see.”

“I have sent a message to the stables,” Aldridge said, “and another to my valet telling him to pack for us both. Mama, we shall rest overnight in London then leave at first light for Margate. If you have any messages, write them now.”

“Take me.” Sophia did not know she was going to speak until the words were from her mouth.

“Lady Sophia?” Lord Aldridge was frowning.

“You are right,” Sophia told Gren. “Only one thing is impossible, and that is living without the man I love. I should have said yes. I will say yes. Take me to London, Gren, and to James.”

Gren looked at his brother and then back at Sophia. “We shall be travelling fast,” he warned.

“All the better.”

“What will Hythe say?” the duchess asked.

“I hope he shall wish me well, but I am going, Aunt Eleanor. If Lord Aldridge will not take me, then I shall catch a mail coach.” The decision made, she would not let anything stand in her way.

Lord Aldridge spread his hands in surrender. “Say your farewells, then, Lady Sophia. We leave in thirty minutes.” He turned to his brother. “I’ll write to Baumann. You’ll need money, Gren. He’ll know who can supply it overnight at short notice at this time of year.”

Hythe was not happy. “Sophia, you cannot mean to go chasing after Elfingham. Why, he might already be wed to Lady Charlotte.”

“He is waiting for me, Hythe. He needs me at his side, and that is where I want to be.”

“I can take you to London after the New Year’s Eve ball,” he suggested. “In just a few days.”

“Aldridge and Gren can take me now, today. In a few days, the duke may be dead, and James will be in mourning.”

“The duke might be dead now, Sophia. This is a mad start, running off with two of England’s worst rakes. What of your reputation?” He frowned. “At least take your maid.”

“Theodosia gets sick in a fast coach. Besides, Felicity will need her.”

“Felicity. What of Felicity? You cannot just race off and abandon her.”

Cedrica spoke up. “Do not be silly, Lord Hythe. Her Grace will chaperone Felicity, you will protect her, her maid will take care of her, and I will make sure she behaves. Sophia, Her Grace will have a maid she can send with you to give you countenance. Let me speak to the housekeeper while you set Theodosia packing a bag for you.”

After one astonished look, Hythe subsided, and almost before she knew it, Sophia was on her way out the door. Felicity hugged her and wept a little on her shoulder. The duchess gave her an absent peck on the cheek, most of her attention on her own sons, but then had a sudden thought.

“Wait!” she said. “Saunders, fetch me paper, ink, and a quill. You will find some in the Gold Drawing Room on the library table.”

While the duchess wrote a letter in neat copperplate using her finest paper, others of the party, Cedrica among them, gave their best wishes for a safe journey, “and a happy arrival,” Cedrica whispered.

Then the duchess handed her the sealed and folded letter. “The Archbishop of Canterbury is an old friend of mine, dear Sophia. This letter will get your James in to see him. You will need a license, my dear.” She kissed Sophia again then went to kiss Gren and weep a little onto his shoulder.

At the last moment, Hythe caught Sophia up into a fierce hug. “Tell him from me that he is to treat you well, or he will have me to deal with. And you can always come home, Sophia.”

She hugged him back and allowed Aldridge to hand her up into the carriage.