Sister,
I trust you are well and the boys have recovered from the fever they acquired at Lady Slone’s house party. I was pleased to hear it was nothing more serious. The Slone’s governess should be put out on the street for allowing the children to play when she knew their little Fredrick felt ill. Disgusting the quality of help these days.
Father has some news, but I must address my news first, as it is of much more import.
You may have already heard that Lady Harrington left London recently with an unknown Frenchman much her junior. Well, I have discovered he is not her consort as suspected, but a friend of her daughter’s, lately in Paris. Lady Mallory has returned from France all a-flutter. Seems Miss Adella Harrington left her care in the middle of the night without notice or explanation. As you know, Lady Mallory is my particular friend and I share this news with you in complete confidence as she shared it with me.
The Frenchman has been identified as Duc François Armistead, a finely dressed gentleman who is close friends with you-know-who. He courted Miss H. for much of their trip and it was thought he would propose marriage. He was suddenly whisked away to the country by his father. When he returned to Paris, he was livid at Miss H.’s absence and followed her to England, for the purpose we suppose to ask for her hand. Meanwhile, Lord Harrington seems to have received Miss Adella at his country estate in Northumberland and calls for Lady Mallory’s head.
Lord Harrington’s manservant of the worst kind accosted her first in the streets of Paris and now in London to demand she answer to Lord Harrington’s claims she left his sister unchaperoned and “in peril” despite her promise to keep her safe. You should have seen Lady Mallory’s pallor when I asked what she supposed Lord Harrington would do to her if Adella had come to harm. She gripped my arm and stared into my eyes as if taken over by some sort of demon.
“I don’t know!” she cried. “I fear the worst.” And then she bid me go so she could retire, her headache coming on with a vengeance.
So I ask you sister, who is this Duc Armistead to Miss Harrington. Are we to hear wedding bells soon, or is it as Lady Mallory intimated…something much worse? And as far as Lord Harrington, do you believe him the devil Lady Mallory fears? Have you ever happened to meet him? I have not had the pleasure, but then I suppose he can’t be any better than his late father.
Speaking of fathers, ours is begging me to relay his gout has come on quite bad and we shall be leaving for Bath by Sunday at latest. Do write me there, you know the address, and please find out whatever you can about this dark Lord Harrington. Is he as grumpy as we are told, or is he just as silly as any of these serious men?
With love to the family,
Your sister.
Find out if Lord Harrington is as evil as Lady Mallory thinks in Lord Harrington’s Lost Doe by Emmy Z. Madrigal.
Lord Harrington’s Lost Doe
Lord Alexander Harrington’s life is rather tame until a shoeless, coatless waif is found wandering his estate with no memory of who she is. Despite his stoicism, Lord Harrington finds himself drawn to the lost girl who he compares to a scared doe. Caring for her illness despite speculation of her mental state, he develops feelings for her.
Is she an escaped lunatic, or simply a lost woman desperately in need of his help? A revelation about his own family’s history with the mental asylum down the road causes him to question his feelings. When a massive fire breaks out on estate grounds, will he lose her forever?
Available now on Amazon.com
Emmy Z. Madrigal is the author of the contemporary romance series Sweet Dreams and the Anime Girl Series. She also writes horror under Emerian Rich. Lord Harrington’s Lost Doe is her first Regency Romance. Find out more at: EmmyZMadrigal.com
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