Bringing this unlikely hero and heroine together was tremendous fun.
What are you researching for your upcoming novel?
I am in the middle of writing a Regency duo at the moment, titled The Daring Duchesses and due to be published later in the year. A Harlequin Historical Undone! e-Book, an introduction to the duo, has already been written, and I have almost finished the first of the duo.
The three heroes are named Dante, Devil and Lucifer, which should give readers some insight into the nature of the three men my three feisty duchesses fall in love and lust with!
What would you most like to have been doing in Regency times?
Well…falling in love with one of my own Regency titled heroes would be a wonderful start! I like my Regency heroines to be not only feisty but independent and strong, so I wouldn’t have been one of those women who were content to sit back and do embroidery and manage the household and children while their husbands made all the important decisions. I would probably have been something of a rebel—and loved every moment of it!
AUTHOR NOTE
Through a series of e-mails passing back and forth between the eight authors involved in this Regency continuity, we came up with the idea of an over arching story that would, and does, affect the whole of the Montague family. Sounds straightforward, doesn’t it? Except we are eight individual authors, living in different parts of the world, and when for some of us it might be daytime, for others it’s night-time—and vice versa! One thing is for certain: we all got to know each other very well through e-mail during six weeks of thrashing out the plotline and then our own individual stories with regard to how they would affect the other seven. That being said, it was tremendous fun, and it has forged a wonderful feeling of friendship between all of us!
My hero, Giles, is the second son of the Montague family. The original heir to the Dukedom, Jamie, was lost in battle against Napoleon’s army over a year ago. The family, especially Giles, were devastated by his death, and Giles is now a somewhat reluctant heir. Except, because Jamie’s body was never recovered, the law of the time states that Giles cannot officially be declared the heir, and nor can he inherit Jamie’s personal fortune, left to him by their mother. All of this leaves the family in a state of flux. Their father, the present Duke of Rothermere, is in precarious health and funds, which only adds to those feelings of confusion and unrest.
Adding to Giles’s own disquiet is his realised and unwanted attraction to Lily Seagrove, the adopted daughter of the local vicar—a man Giles has long respected, who is a friend of his own father, the Duke of Rothermere. Lily was left on the doorstep of Mr and Mrs Seagrove’s vicarage as a newborn baby, meaning that her real parentage is shrouded in a mystery—although many in the village of Castonbury believe that because of her black curling hair and exotic beauty she is somehow related to the tribe of Romani, who for many years have stayed in the village every harvest time. To Giles, future heir to a dukedom, she is forbidden fruit—both as Mr Seagrove’s adopted daughter, and more specifically as the illegitimate daughter of one of the roving Romani. But she is a forbidden fruit he finds it more and more difficult to refuse…
Don’t miss the next instalment of Castonbury Park—
THE HOUSEMAID’S SCANDALOUS SECRET
by Helen Dickson
‘Your discretion and good behaviour would be most appreciated…’
Returning to Castonbury Park is just another job for Colonel Ross Montague. With his family in disarray, he promises to do his utmost to see order and decorum restored once more. That is until he’s sidetracked by the beguiling eyes of Castonbury’s newest maid—Lisette.
An affair would be most improper…but when neither can deny their blazing desire, all society’s rules are discarded.
So, in a house where gossip is rife, Lisette must try her best to keep her passionate liaison a secret…!
THE HOUSEMAID’S
SCANDALOUS SECRET
Helen Dickson
He raised the stakes higher.
‘There is nothing wrong in sharing a kiss,’ he stated, now in a more assured tone. ‘A mere kiss,’ he said, his voice sounding low and husky, ‘can be far more tempting than you realise. In fact, I think we might get to know each other better, Miss Napier. So long as we resolve to be discreet,’ he said, having no wish to create a scandal by forming a relationship with his sister’s maid. ‘I don’t think either of us would enjoy all the attention we would receive at Castonbury Park.
Lisette stared at him in disbelief at what he was suggesting. Though her stomach clenched with fear she slowly smiled, for she could not deny to herself that she liked the way he touched her. But to become closer would be a dangerous game to play, one that she would not willingly choose to become involved in. Not because it would be distasteful—for she found Ross Montague desirable in every way—but because she could never be anything to him other than his mistress, and she had too much self-respect for that.
‘I think that what you are suggesting is an illicit attachment, sir—in which I shall be judged to be a scheming hoyden. I would despise myself—and you. I have done nothing to invite your attentions or encourage the feelings that have taken root.’ She stepped away and turned from him. ‘Excuse me. I must go back.’
Ross’s burst of laughter halted the flow of words abruptlynd Lisette spun round, her eyes flashing with indignant sparks.
‘How quickly you rebuke me. And there you are, all soft and tempting. And then you chasten me for looking at you and kissing you. Fickle woman,’ he teased.
‘You deserve to be rebuked,’ she was quick to add.
‘You think so?’ Ross took her in his arms once more. He knew he was playing with fire, but it was the risk that made a game exciting. He did not want to give up the tormenting delight of being alone with her. It was like an addiction—an addiction to the game of testing his desire for her against his resolve. And so he kissed her again—her hair, her cheek, caressing her lips with his own. He pressed her back against a tree, and his mouth travelled downward to where her neck disappeared into the collar of her dress. Lisette held her breath, and the fires of passion and wild, wanton sensations again began to flare within. A touch, a kiss, a look and he could rouse her. What madness.
‘Your heart beats much too quickly for you to claim no interest, Miss Lisette Napier…’
ISBN: 9781426876714
(c) Carole Mortimer 2012
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sev
enteen
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
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