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Tag: Lyon’s Den

A Gentleman of Shadows… and a Lady Who Dares the Light

By

On April 29, 2026

In Teatime Tattler

Dear Readers,

There are whispers—quiet ones, of course, though no less persistent—of a certain gentleman who has long preferred the company of shadows to that of society.

Marcus Wolfton. Some call him Wolf.

Not for cruelty, as one might assume, but for something far more unsettling. Control. Precision. A man who does not lose himself… not to temper, not to indulgence, and certainly not to affection.

He has not been seen often of late. And when he is, it is said he keeps to the edges of a room, observing rather than engaging. One cannot help but wonder what thoughts occupy a man so determined to remain apart.

Yet what has truly set tongues wagging is not the gentleman himself… but the quiet change within his household.

There is a child.

A boy, by all accounts withdrawn, who has not been heard at the pianoforte in some time. Once lively, now silent.

Until recently.

A new presence has been noted. A lady—not one given to spectacle or social maneuvering, which makes her all the more intriguing. She does not command attention, yet it follows her. And where she walks, something curious seems to unfold.

It began, so the story goes, with a single note.

Then another.

And now… there are moments—fleeting, fragile—where music has been heard once more within those walls.

What role this lady plays in such a transformation remains to be seen. But one cannot ignore the timing. Nor the effect.

As for Mr. Wolfton…

Those who have glimpsed him of late suggest something has shifted. Not in manner, not in bearing—but in the space between one breath and the next. As if the stillness he has so carefully maintained has begun, ever so slightly, to give way.

Whether this is a passing influence or the beginning of something far more dangerous remains uncertain.

After all, society has long known that shadows serve a purpose.

But when a man steps out of them…

He risks far more than exposure.

The Lyon’s Shadow

by Ruth A. Casie

Sometimes it’s not the darkness that holds a man… but the fear of stepping into the light.

Marcus Wolfton, known only as Wolf, has lived his life in the shadows—controlled, precise, untouchable. A man shaped by duty and loss, he guards his world carefully… especially the quiet grief of a son who no longer plays the piano.

Until her.

Steady where he is guarded and warm where he has gone cold, she reaches for the broken places he has long kept hidden. And when silence begins to give way to something more, Wolf is faced with a truth he cannot outrun.

Some shadows are meant to protect.
Others… must be left behind.

Purchase Link

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX2VK74R

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-lyon-s-shadow-the-lyon-s-den-connected-world-by-ruth-a-casie

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/251051833-the-lyon-s-shadow

Excerpt

Henry hesitated at the pianoforte, his small hand hovering above the keys.

Marcus stood just inside the doorway, unseen. Waiting.

“Just one note,” she said gently.

Her voice did not press. It did not coax. It simply remained.

The boy glanced up at her, uncertainty flickering across his face. Then, slowly, he lowered his finger.

One note sounded.

Soft. Fragile. Barely there.

Marcus felt it like a strike to the chest.

Henry stilled, as if the sound itself had startled him.

“It’s all right,” she said, her tone warm and steady. “You’ve already done the hardest part.”

Marcus exhaled, though he had not realized he’d been holding his breath.

The room shifted. Not in sound, not in movement, but in something deeper. Something he had not allowed himself to feel in a very long time.

Hope.

It had no place here.

And yet it lingered.

Henry pressed another key.

Then another.

Not a melody. Not yet. But more than silence.

Marcus stepped forward before he could stop himself.

The floor creaked beneath his boot.

Henry froze.

She turned.

Their gazes met.

There was no surprise in her expression. Only quiet understanding, as if she had known he was there all along.

And in that moment, Marcus realized something far more dangerous than broken silence had entered his home.

Not music.

Not even hope.

Her.

👤 About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author Ruth A. Casie writes historical romance filled with emotional depth, compelling characters, and stories where love is earned, tested, and ultimately triumphant.

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Frogmore’s Mistake?

By

On April 14, 2023

In Jude Knight, Regency (19th century Britain), Teatime Tattler

Followers of Society news will be aware of the sad case of the marriage of Baron Frogmore. The baron, we are told, married in haste and regretted it at his leisure. He picked his bride for her beauty and overlooked the myriad ways in which she was unsuitable as the wife of any gentleman. This—or so the man’s brother and his wife assure us— is the reason that Lord Frogmore would not bring her ladyship to town. She was common, licentious, and stupid, they say. A strumpet plucked from poverty and set in high estate, but a pig in a tiara is still a pig.

Yet there is another story to be found. Some of our matrons remember Lady Frogmore as a young bride—a quiet and shy young woman with impeccable manners. Common born, yes. But born to an extremely wealthy merchant, and married with a rich dowry that the much older Lord Frogmore immediately set about spending. So she was not a strumpet, and not plucked from poverty.

Could it be, then, that the other claims made by Mr and Mrs Frogmore are equally false? Derived from a desire to keep their hands on the little heir, now baron since the death of his father? Some might think this a more likely motive than an honest desire to protect him and his sisters from a careless and unloving mother?

Society may judge for itself, for the powerful Versey family, led by the Duke and Duchess of Dellborough themselves, have taken up the widowed Lady Frogmore’s cause.

A little bird has whispered to this correspondent that the Verseys turned out in force in support of one of their own. Is the delightful Lord Lancelot Versey performing a disinterested charitable act in helping the widow to take her place in Society? Is it true that his involvement owes much to a careless wager with the Black Widow of Whitehall? Or has the consummate bachelor around town finally fallen in love?

The Teatime Tattler will leave you to be the judge.

***

The Talons of a Lyon

A Lyon’s Den Connected World novella

Lance Versey owes Mrs. Dove Lyon a promise. Fulfilling it will cost him the life he enjoys and win him the life he wants.

The death of Lady Frogmore’s neglectful and disloyal husband should have been a relief. But then her nasty brother-in-law seizes her three children and turns her out, telling the whole of Society that she is a crude, vulgar, and loose woman. Without allies or friends, Serafina, Lady Frogmore, turns to Mrs. Dove Lyon, also known as the Black Widow of Whitehall for help, paying her by promising to perform an unspecified favor at a time of the Mrs. Dove Lyon’s choice.

Lord Lancelot Versey has always tried to be a perfect gentleman, and a gentleman honors his debts, even when an unwise wager obliges him to escort a notorious widow into Society. But Lady Frogmore is not what he expects, and helping her becomes a quest worthy of the knight for whom he was named.

Except Mrs. Dove Lyon calls in Seraphina’s promise. The favor she asks might destroy all they have found together.

Published 26 April. Order now: https://amzn.to/3YVLvPt

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