Tag: 19th Century Page 2 of 23

Another Encroaching Caulfield

On November 8, 2025

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

Be Wary of What You Read in the Paper

By Bluestocking Belles

On November 11, 2023

In Teatime Tattler

The Teatime Tattler September 1813

Letters to The Teatime Tattler October 10, 1813

To the editor,

I write to alert you to a misleading advert that has appeared in this paper frequently this autumn, to wit the one entitled “Governess Wanted.” I am one of the foolish women who responded. I therefore can knowledgeably warn any gently-bred lady who considers the position to run the other way.

While the county in question may appear pleasant in the brief summer, its bleak landscape grows drearier with every mile north and every month,closer to a dark, cold winter. The “gracious manor” saw better days under one of the earlier Georges perhaps. Grim and neglected, it is woefully understaffed forcing a governess to activities not expected of one in her position. The mentioned accommodations might be considered comfortable but were hardly attractive. Shabby describes much of the manor.

Description of his lordship’s wards as “bright” fails to mention that they lack manners. The little demons are as civilized as savages. As to the viscount himself, a more grim and taciturn oaf I have yet to meet. That is, he is taciturn until his intemperate anger gets out of control. I would shudder to report the words he said when we parted ways.

Tilly Wilkins, unemployed governess

PS Return fare was provided as promised

About the Story

Duncan Laidlaw, newly and expectantly raised to Viscount Mildrum, is in trouble. He’s been saddled with a neglected estate, an equally neglected and shabby household, and three wild and undisciplined children, his cousin’s step-children. They may not be his blood, but they are his to care for.

After several failed attempts he has concluded that what he needs first isn’t a governess, it is a wife, someone who can help him bring order to his home. He turns to his friend, vicar Micah Turner, to send one.

What an outrageous request! Yet, Micah happens to know just the woman. She’d be perfect for Duncan, if he can convince her. The only way to find out is to plunge her into the middle of the chaos.

“Duncan’s Twelfth Night Miracle” by Caroline Warfield appears in the next Bluestocking Belles’ holiday collection, a bundle of sweet and saucy romances for your holiday leisure, Boxing Day and beyond. Each is a short tale perfect for an evening’s quiet read over hot cocoa and candlelight. Watch for it later this month.

That Lovely French Emigre is not to be Trusted

By Cerise DeLand

On July 1, 2023

In Cerise Deland

Dear Sir,

I am here to report a tale of treason. It involves a lovely French emigre and one of our finest English families!

You must print this so that this lady—a princess of Bourbon blood, too—does not corrupt this good English family completely.

It began weeks ago when our renowned MP, Sir R—was pushed into the and run over by a careless coachman. He nearly died. He has lost his leg to amputation. But I ask you, who put the coachman up to the heinous crime???

I say it was this Miss Marguerite, aka ‘Daisy’ M—. Yes, she of the famous M— family, comtes of Normandy. Cousins to the new King Louis and his family. She has hidden in our country, lo these many years with her large elusive family, who are nothing more than thieves and charlatans themselves!

Why has she appeared at our poor Sir R—’s home? And at such an importune time?

Why does she remain?

I tell you why. I have it on good authority that she seduces SIr R’s nephew. He is younger than his uncle and handsome as a god.

You must stop her seduction. She is dangerous and will only once again ruin the name of Sir R’s nephew. After all, he was once suspected of murder. Though the true criminal was never caught, Sir R’s nephew must not fall for this lady and further lose whatever reputation he has left.

Spread the word, dear sir.

Daisy M— is not to trusted.

***

“You are most kind,” Daisy told her host as the servant departed. “And I have intruded. I do beg your pardon. I had no idea Mr. Ruxton was injured.”

“Sir Daniel,” Garrick said with a tone of polite correction.

She tipped her head. “Excuse me?”

“My uncle is Sir Daniel Ruxton, Baronet Ruxton. Eighth of his line.”

“Forgive me. I had no idea.”

He walked toward her and took the settee opposite. An arm flung across the back, crossing one leg over the other, he regarded her. His perusal this time was friendlier than before, but inquisitive. “You truly have no idea who my uncle is?”

She knew not what his phrasing implied. She told him what she could. “I do know that he wrote to me for weeks. That he is a widower with two young daughters whom he loves dearly. That he wishes for himself to have a normal life again, which, since the death of his wife, he has not enjoyed.”

With knitted brows, he took that in as if he weighed it in his heart. “My uncle is a kind man, a good one, Miss Molyneaux. He does suffer with this injury. I will tell you that. We do pray for his recovery.”

“As do I, sir. As do I. Oh, not…not because I wish an apology. Not now. But because one should not suffer so dearly. Life is difficult enough without…without chaos.” And now chaos was hers. If Sir Daniel did not marry her, chaos was once again hers.

“Just so.” Mr. Ruxton pressed his hands together. “I gather you understand that well.”

She stared at him. “I do.”

He inclined his head toward her. “The chaos of your particular memories.”

She flinched. Her particular memories. She successfully hid them most of the time.

“The Terror?”

“Oui.” Would she never escape it? “The Great Terror.”

“I must ask, miss, why precisely were my uncle and you to meet at Gunter’s?”

“He was to bring me home and—”

“Pardon me.” The man blinked. “You would come…here with him?”

“That’s normal. I mean—”

The man’s angelic eyes turned a shocking green. “To live?”

“Well, yes. That is the way.”

“You were to be his…” He gazed around the room, looking for a word.

“Wife.”

***

MATRIMONY! #2 BECAUSE OF YOU

Love does not advertise. Love is not proud.

But when a young woman has nothing left but pride, she places an ad and hopes for a husband to treasure.

Miss ‘Daisy’ Molyneaux is desperate. All her family is dead. Her home in Normandy, attacked by mobs. Now that the little general has abdicated, she has a chance to gain back her lands. But she needs a husband who will help her regain her rights. So she pays to post an advert for a husband.

When the man who answers is not one she could ever love, but his nephew could be, can she accept his proposal?

Garrick Ruxton appears to her like a golden-haired hero, a handsome creature who saves her from an imperfect marriage. Garrick vows to accompany Daisy to France and, in the bargain, solve his own problem. His shipments, meant for British forces on the Continent, constantly go missing. He knows not who or how or why the thieves steal his goods. Worse, someone has attempted to kill his uncle. Daisy, too.

Garrick must find all those guilty before he is accused of treason. Before Daisy loses all hope of regaining her rights. And before they both lose the one chance they have to find happiness together.

BUY LINK:

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Cerise DeLand is the USA TODAY bestselling author who hates to dust, loves to cook and write!

Visit her: http://cerisedeland.com