The Demon Duke

by Margaret Locke

  “Tell me more of the history of Thorne Hill,” Grace asked as they neared the estate.

  “In truth, I don’t know as much as I should. Many of my childhood memories are hazy, and while I spent the winter months here before coming to London, much of that passed in a blur as I acclimated to new surroundings.” He grimaced. “And new people.”

  He shifted in his seat as he looked out the window. “It’s been in the family for at least a century. I admire its architecture, but with my experiences here, I don’t feel attached to it. Not as Cassie does.”

  “Cassie?”

  “Yes. When I first arrived, it was she who taught me the ins and outs of the house. She knows everything about it, every servant’s name, every piece of silverware, every furnishing—even those in storage.”

  Grace ran her hand over his thigh. How taut his muscles were. “Perhaps she should run it.”

  He didn’t speak for a moment. “I’ve considered that, actually. In truth, I’d rather return to Yorkshire. To the abbey. But I couldn’t think to ask such a sacrifice of you, to take you so far away from your family.”

  “I would miss them,” she conceded after a short silence. “But my home is with you.”

  The tender smile on his face showed her words had moved him. He gave her a quick kiss, his eyes smoldering.

  “I wonder if you might consider living part of the year in Yorkshire and part of the year here—at Thorne Hill, or in London.”

  “Like Persephone and Hades?”

  He flinched. “I should hope Yorkshire would not seem the equivalent of the underworld, nor you feel a prisoner in it.”

  “I was teasing, my love.”

  His muscles relaxed.

  “I rather like the idea of Yorkshire,” she said.

  “But you’ve never been.”

  “No. But anywhere with you and a fine library cannot be anything less than paradise.”

  His pupils flared as he drew her face up for another deep kiss. “Keep talking like that, wife, and we shall certainly arrive in a state of undress. Thorne Hill is only a few minutes more.”

  As they rounded a bend in the road, the house came into view. It did not match the grandiosity of Clarehaven, but she immediately loved its precisely symmetrical façade and the sizable windows that covered the front of the house. Sunlight always buoyed her spirits while reading, and such windows no doubt allowed many a warm ray.

  A large stone staircase descended from the front door, on which the servants had lined up to greet the returning master and his new wife. As the carriage pulled to a stop at the front, a smile split Grace’s face; Daisy and Geoffrey were among the persons assembled there.

  “Geoffrey!” she exclaimed, turning to Damon with a quizzical expression.

  “I sent a carriage for them,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I thought we ought to have them with us, not leave them at Clarehaven. I hope you approve.”

  “Of course! I am so glad to see him. Both of them.”

  A footman stepped forward to open the door. Damon exited first, then held his hand out to assist Grace. She watched Geoffrey as she descended. He still made his movements, but they seemed less pronounced. His face was unsure. Were people being kind to the boy?

  The butler stepped forward and introduced himself, then each of the servants in turn. Grace walked the line of them, greeting each person warmly. When she got to Geoffrey, she enfolded the boy in a hug. “I’m pleased you are here,” she said. “I hope you have been made to feel welcome.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I mean, Your Grace,” he said, but he still seemed sad.

  Grace frowned. She leaned in near his ear. “Is anyone being mean to you?”

  His ears flushed red. “Not really, ma’am. I miss Freddy, 'tis all.”

  “Then we shall have to visit him soon. And get to know some of the other children nearby.”

  Damon touched her elbow and she stood, lacing her arm through his. Together, they walked through the front doors.

  “Thank you again for letting Geoffrey come here,” Damon said as they entered the foyer.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you, wife. I don’t think many women would want to take in a stranger’s child, much less one of lower birth and with his, um, differences.”

  She stopped at the foot of the stairs, turning to face him. Servants milled about, but she ignored them, focusing her complete attention on her husband.

  “A child is a child,” she said, her voice low so that only he could hear. “All deserve kindness.” She touched her hand to his cheek. “All.”

  Her heart swelled as his eyes moistened. He swallowed.

  “I have been thinking,” she went on. “Could we help more children? Children like Geoffrey, or others without parents at all.”

  She looked down at the tiled floor. “I know we couldn’t help every one, Damon, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could save at least a few? Give them the love—and education—every child deserves?”

  He pulled her to him, lifting her chin to capture her in a kiss so bold, so fiery she could only clutch at his jacket sleeves as she succumbed to the fervor of their embrace. It was more than physical lust driving his passionate action, and indeed, when he broke off the kiss, he murmured against her lips.

  “My God, you are indeed my saving Grace. If only …” he said, and this time a tear did fall from his eye. “If only I’d had someone like you when I was small. Someone who could have helped me.”

  “You did,” she said, her own eyes welling up. “You told me. Your Mrs. Hardy. Remind me to thank her when we are in Yorkshire. And Hobbes. And Cerberus. That is more than some ever get.”

  Hobbes and the cat had left in a separate carriage earlier that morning. “I wanted my wife to myself,” Damon had explained. “And Cerberus does not exactly travel well.”

  She’d spied the two in the hall a moment ago. Who looked more frazzled, the valet or the animal, she wasn’t sure. Only one had borne scratches on his arms, however.

  “Indeed.” Damon nuzzled against her neck. “Though I think both prefer never to ride in a carriage again. At least not together.”

  She glanced around. The servants had discreetly exited the room. Had they witnessed the kiss? She should probably be embarrassed. Proper ladies did not engage in amorous embraces with their husbands in public. Then again, she’d never much valued being a proper lady.

  Damon brought his hands to her face, holding her cheeks gently as he fixed his eyes on her. “I love you, Grace Blackbourne. Thank you for all you have given me. You have healed my tortured soul, tamed the wild beast.” He sighed, closing his eyes. “I can’t promise you my movements won’t ever come back. I wish I could.”

  “And I can’t promise you I won’t run around with ink-stained hands, or won’t forget to eat sometimes because I’ve gotten lost in a book, or won’t hide away in the library whenever possible to avoid callers.”

  He laughed, a great booming laugh that echoed through the foyer.

  “As long as you let me hide with you.” His blue eyes flashed in wicked delight. “I have an even greater fondness for libraries now. And carriages. Definitely carriages.”

  “Perhaps we could consider adding a bed to that list,” she said with a saucy grin. Her fingers ran down his chest and then lower, to his stomach, then lower still.

  His eyes widened, but he grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the stairs. “The house tour will have to wait. The only room I’m interested in seeing right now is my chamber. Our chamber.”

  She giggled as she stumbled after him. “Indeed, my husband.”

  Reaching the top, he swung her up into his arms and carried her down the hallway, planting kisses all around her face as they went.

  “And then the library, my beloved wife,” he said. “Most definitely the library.”

  Author’s Note

  Authors often talk of the book of their heart, the book they just had to write. This is the book of my love. Namely, my love for my son, wh
o, like Damon Blackbourne of The Demon Duke, has Tourette Syndrome (also called Tourette’s or simply TS). It was he who inspired this duke.

  The Tourette Association of America defines the syndrome thusly:

  “Tourette Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects children, adolescents and adults. The condition is characterized by sudden, involuntary movements and/or sounds called tics. Tics typically emerge between the ages of 5-7 years, most often with a motor tic of the head and neck region. They tend to increase in frequency and severity between the ages of 8-12 years. Most people with TS show noticeable improvement in late adolescence, with some becoming tic-free. A minority of people with TS continues to have persistent, severe tics in adulthood.

  Tics can range from mild to severe and, in some cases, can be self-injurious and debilitating. Tics regularly change in type, frequency, and severity—sometimes for reasons unknown and sometimes in response to specific internal and external factors, including stress, anxiety, excitement, fatigue, and illness. Individuals with Tourette often have co-occurring conditions, most commonly Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and learning difficulties.”

  Anybody who’s “different” knows the challenges of being so, especially when one’s differences manifest themselves in a visible manner. My son often insists he’s never getting married, because nobody will ever want him. While much of that is (hopefully) typical teen self-doubt, it breaks my heart. The first time he said it, I decided right then and there I’d write a book in which the hero has TS but finds true love—and acceptance.

  I patterned this story somewhat after Beauty and the Beast not because I think people with TS are beastly in any way, but because (1) it’s my favorite fairy tale, and (2) many in the past (and present) have viewed people with Tourette Syndrome negatively.

  Tourette’s is still not well understood, but at least we view it today through the lens of science. Medical advances allow us to understand it as a neurological disorder, not a psychological disturbance, much less the work of dark forces. In earlier centuries, when science was less advanced, people attributed many medical maladies to sinister causes. The first known mention of a person with tics—a priest—came in the Malleus Maleficarum, that infamous handbook for witch hunting published in 1486. It attributed the priest’s symptoms to possession by a demon.1 Not an auspicious beginning for anybody suffering from these unwanted behaviors.

  Though people have speculated 18th century notables writer Samuel Johnson and composer Amadeus Mozart had Tourette’s,2 the first medically documented case was that of the Marquise de Dampierre, a French noblewoman whose tics physician Jean Marc Gaspard Itard chronicled in 1825. It was this case Georges Gilles de la Tourette used in 1885 as his primary example of what he called a “maladie des tics.” Tourette went on to study others who exhibited similar symptoms. From him, the syndrome took its name.3

  Today in the United States, one out of every 160 children (0.6%) between the ages of 5-17 has TS. Males are affected three to four more times than females. Though coproralia, or “the involuntary utterance of obscene and socially unacceptable words and phrases,” is a common stereotype of people with Tourette Syndrome, less than 10% of those diagnosed with TS exhibit this symptom.4

  I am not a medical doctor. This book is a work of fiction and expresses my own research and experiences of someone with Tourette Syndrome. I have endeavored to accurately reflect how people in the Regency might have reacted to someone with tics, as well as to give a realistic portrayal of how the syndrome affects a person. However, as with many neurological disorders, TS can and does present differently in different people.

  My hope in writing this book was to raise awareness of and compassion for an oft-misunderstood syndrome, one that continues to perplex the medical community and the general public today.

  As a show of support for my son and all people with Tourette Syndrome, I will donate 20% of my profits from each sale of The Demon Duke to the Tourette Association of America.

  * * *

  Footnotes:

  1 Tourette's syndrome: from demonic possession and psychoanalysis to the discovery of genes. Francisco M.B. Germiniani; Anna Paula P. Miranda; Peter Ferenczy; Renato P. Munhoz; Hélio A.G. Teive. July 2012. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0004-282X2012000700014)

  * * *

  2 Famous People with Neurological Disorders. http://bandofartists.org/about-tourettes/famous-people-with-neurological-disorders/

  * * *

  3 Kushner, Howard I. A Cursing Brain? The Histories of Tourette Syndrome. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1999.

  * * *

  4 Tourette Association of America. https://www.tourette.org/about-tourette/overview/what-is-tourette/

  For Further Reading

  These are a small sample of the books available, though information on the history of Tourette Syndrome is scanty.

  Wikipedia: Basic History of Tourette Syndrome.

  * * *

  Chowdhury, Uttom. Tics and Tourette Syndrome: A Handbook for Parents and Professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 2004.

  * * *

  Kushner, Howard I. A Cursing Brain? The Histories of Tourette Syndrome. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1999.

  * * *

  Marsh, Tracy. Children With Tourette Syndrome: A Parents’ Guide. Bethesda, Maryland: Woodbine House. 2007.

  * * *

  Tourette Association of America.

  Don’t miss Margaret Locke’s Best-selling, Award-winning Magic of Love series!

  * * *

  A MAN OF CHARACTER

  MAGIC of LOVE Book One

  * * *

  Fall in love with the magic in A Man of Character.

  The perfect fantasy might just be reality.

  What would you do if you discovered the men you were dating were fictional characters you'd created long ago?

  * * *

  Thirty-five-year-old Catherine Schreiber has shelved love for good. Keeping her ailing bookstore afloat takes all her time, and she’s perfectly fine with that. So when several men ask her out in short order, she’s not sure what to do … especially since something about them seems eerily familiar.

  A startling revelation—that these men are fictional characters she’d created and forgotten years ago—forces Cat to reevaluate her world and the people in it. Because these characters are alive. Here. Now. And most definitely in the flesh.

  Her best friend, Eliza, a romance novel junkie craving her own Happily Ever After, is thrilled by the possibilities. The power to create Mr. Perfect—who could pass that up? But can a relationship be real if it’s fiction? Caught between fantasy and reality, Cat must decide which—or whom—she wants more.

  Blending humor with unusual twists, including a magical manuscript, a computer scientist in shining armor, and even a Regency ball, A Man of Character is a whimsical-yet-thought-provoking romantic comedy that tells a story not only of love, but also of the lengths we'll go for friendship, self-discovery, and second chances.

  * * *

  An excerpt from A Man of Character:

  What was wrong with her? A week ago she’d insisted to Eliza that she wasn’t the least bit interested in a man, and here she was, having gone out on a date with one…and now fantasizing over another, thinking thoughts that reminded her of the smutty story Eliza had found. She hadn’t paid attention to men for six years; what had her reacting to two in such a short time period?

  Make that three. You can’t deny Ben Cooper caught your attention, too.

  The door opened and an older couple walked through. At the sound of their voices, the man looked up and then checked his watch.

  “Oh, I’m late.” He gave her a wolfish grin. “Gotta scoot.”

  Tucking the book back onto the bookshelf, he winked and sauntered out the door.

  Cat stood there, breathing slowly to calm her flaming senses. Anyone would react to that man, right? Rig
ht? That mouth. She’d wanted to touch it, to feel those lips on hers. Goose bumps prickled her skin.

  She didn’t understand what was happening to her, why she was suddenly so aware of men, when before she’d managed to convince herself they were just part of the scenery. No doubt her sister would say it was her biological clock, tick, tick, ticking away.

  Cat wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was her stories, the ones Eliza had unearthed from that box. She had written them, after all. Perhaps reading them again had sparked something within her, made her realize that at one point, at least, she’d been very, ahem, interested in men and sex. And love.

  A MATTER OF TIME

  MAGIC of LOVE Book Two

  The magic continues!

  * * *

  Don’t miss A Matter of Time—Eliza and Deveric’s story.

  (Featuring several familiar faces from The Demon Duke!)

  Love Comes When Least Expected

  Can a man with a past and a woman from the future forge a love for all time?

  * * *

  Nobody would blame widowed doctoral student Eliza James for giving up on Happily Ever After; at twenty-nine, she’s suffered more loss than most people do in a lifetime. But Eliza’s convinced her own hero is still out there, waiting for her, just like in the beloved romance novels she devours. Every Jane Austen-loving girl deserves a Darcy, right?

  Only Eliza doesn’t dream of a modern-day affair: she wants the whole Regency experience. When a magical manuscript thrusts her back two hundred years into the arms and life of one Deveric Mattersley, Duke of Claremont, however, Eliza realizes some fantasies aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, especially when her duke proves himself less than a Prince Charming.