Dangerous Alliance

by Jennieke Cohen

  He squeezed her hand. “Will you despise me if we wait until I have more than debts to offer you?”

  “Never, but with your new partners for your hotel, I cannot imagine it will be long.”

  He winced. “It could be years.”

  She shrugged and clutched his hand tighter. “I think you underestimate yourself, but I am quite content to stay here until we are both ready.” Her gaze flicked below them to the house and the verdant fields and dells stretching out as far as they could see. “And until then, I’ll only be a few miles away.”

  He smirked at her obvious delight. “What will your parents say?”

  She inclined her head. “These are our lives, are they not?”

  He nodded solemnly and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her cheek with gentle fingers. “Very well. From this day on, we make our own future.”

  Vicky raised herself up on her toes and kissed him. She lifted her chin and beamed at the boy she knew and loved so well. “Together.”

  Historical Note

  As I was creating the story for this novel and began researching marriages and divorces in Georgian and Regency England, I discovered that, despite what I’d almost always read in historical novels, it was actually possible for a woman to divorce her husband in this era. In fact, there’s even a divorce in Sense and Sensibility. The woman Colonel Brandon loves as a young man is forced to marry his elder brother. Due to the brother’s neglect, she commits adultery and he divorces her, a fact notably absent from many TV and film adaptations.

  In the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century, the word “divorce” was used interchangeably for the Parliament-granted divorce and for (what I’ve termed) a legal separation that was granted by the ecclesiastical (church-controlled) courts. The Parliamentary divorce was the kind of divorce we know of today; the legal separation meant the couple would be legally unbound in every way, except they didn’t have permission to remarry. For clarity’s sake, I opted not to use the word “divorce” as they did then, and have used the term “legal separation” to delineate between the two types.

  In a case like Althea and Dain’s, two easier courses of action actually existed: you could simply walk away from your marriage (abandonment), or you could draw up a mutually agreed-upon private separation agreement. It’s likely that most unhappy couples used these options rather than involving the courts. If a wife abandoned her husband, however, she would have lost all her personal property. Of course, as I mentioned, Dain had no interest in giving Althea (or her eventual inheritance) up willingly by agreeing to a private separation agreement.

  As you might expect, far more options existed for a man to be rid of his wife than for a wife to be rid of a bad husband. However, the courts did make a distinction between a couple who couldn’t get along (generally because of adultery) and abusive husbands (recorded abuse was almost exclusively by men). By the early 1800s, one or two physical confrontations or even just threats of violence would be enough grounds for a separation.* A number of documented cases exist where wives divorced their husbands for cruel behavior.

  In one such case (Turst v. Turst), the husband beat his wife to force her to give him sole control of her property. When she refused, he hid their children from her, then threatened to throw her in a madhouse where she’d never be found. She escaped and lived under

  a different name, visited only by her brother. Then, after nine years, her husband found her again, kidnapped her, locked her in a room, and beat her—again to force her to sign her property over to him. After at least four days of this treatment, a maidservant saved her. In 1738, the wife sued her husband for divorce and the ecclesiastical court ruled in her favor. She was entitled to alimony from her husband, but unfortunately, she never achieved contact with her children. This is only one example of a real case of marital cruelty. There are many far more graphic and sad.

  As I mentioned, the only way for a couple to be able to remarry was to petition Parliament to grant a divorce (which was the equivalent of what we think of as a divorce today). However, Parliament only gave men these divorces, the logic being that men shouldn’t be forced to have heirs who weren’t their actual children. And in the days of no DNA or paternity testing, a man could never be certain a child was his if he suspected his wife was committing adultery. The divorce of Lord and Lady Boringdon that Althea and Vicky discuss in Chapter Ten is one such case. Lady Boringdon took up with Sir Arthur Paget (a diplomat, Member of Parliament, and Privy Councillor) after her husband had taken a mistress. Lord Boringdon then sued for divorce, Parliament dissolved their marriage in February 1809, and two days later, Lady Boringdon and Sir Arthur Paget married in Heckfield, Hampshire. They then moved to Sir Arthur’s estate in Southampton, where they lived by all accounts happily until his death in 1840. They had nine children.

  Women could sue for separations on the grounds of a husband’s adultery, but they only won rarely and usually with extenuating circumstances. As they generally have throughout history, ladies definitely held the short straw, but they did have some legal options. If you care to learn more on the subject of marriages and divorces during this period, Lawrence Stone’s Road to Divorce and Uncertain Unions and Broken Lives have been invaluable to me. I have tried to be as accurate as possible regarding all divorce/separation proceedings that would’ve taken place during 1817, but I’ve made some deliberate omissions, and I hope I’ll be forgiven if there are any slight inaccuracies in this work of fiction.

  Hotels did exist in London in small numbers during this period. They were generally places where gentlemen stayed if they didn’t have a house in the city or for travelers who needed to buy time while they looked for lodgings to rent. The luxurious, grand hotel Tom envisions—emphasizing customer comfort, cleanliness, and all manner of amenities—existed in other European cities but had not yet made its way to London.

  The glass armonica Emily Chadwick plays was an instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin in the 1760s after watching performers creating music with water glasses. The glass armonica’s lilting sounds briefly appear in the 1999 film version of Mansfield Park. Mozart and Beethoven both composed music for the glass armonica. Though the music the instrument made sounded beautiful, the bowls were made with lead glass. In the following decades, rumors surfaced that the instruments were making those who played them ill. To this day, it’s unclear whether there was enough lead in the glasses to cause lead poisoning. Lead was present in many materials during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, so lead poisoning was extremely common. Benjamin Franklin himself lived a long life. Regardless of the truth, the instrument fell out of favor in the nineteenth century.

  “Gifted” animals made interesting attractions in Britain, starting in the seventeenth century. Toby the “sapient pig” was possibly the most well-known of these animals in the early 1800s. Toby toured the country with his owner (who turned out to be a skilled illusionist) and made a sensation whenever he appeared at fairs, shows, and pleasure gardens. Toby was renowned for his many abilities, which included reading, playing cards, telling time, and guessing people’s ages and even their thoughts. In 1817, he even published his own “autobiography”! Vicky’s hope of meeting an oracular pig was my little nod to Hen Wen in Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain.

  The novels of Ann Radcliffe that Vicky thinks are sensational nonsense are what is now referred to as Gothic literature. At the time, Mrs. Radcliffe’s books were called romances, so I’ve refrained from using the term “Gothic” in the book. Critics of the time generally thought of Gothic novels as cheap entertainment, but Radcliffe’s novels were usually considered the exception. Her books were wildly successful (so much so that Radcliffe became the highest-paid professional writer of the 1790s), so I imagine even someone like Tom who’d been living in Switzerland would have read her novels. Jane Austen pokes gentle fun at Radcliffe’s novels in Northanger Abbey, which, along with Persuasion, was published in December 1817, after the events of Dangerous Allian
ce take place.

  William Godwin, the author of the novel Fleetwood (published 1805), that Vicky finds so uncomfortable to read to her father is now perhaps better remembered for being the father of Mary Shelley and the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft than for his own political and philosophical works and novels. His novels also contain some Gothic influences. His book The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794) was one of the first mystery novels ever written and became a great success. Fleetwood, however, was a commercial failure, possibly due to its violent content.

  Jane Austen was known to have many fans in her lifetime, and by the time Emma was published in 1815, she was receiving letters from members of the aristocracy telling her how much they enjoyed her stories. Apparently, the prince regent, who became the de facto king of England after King George III went mad, kept a set of her novels in all of his lodgings. Though during her life, her books were published only under the guise of “a lady,” near Austen’s home in Chawton, Hampshire (where she revised Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice and wrote Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion), her family didn’t make an effort to hide her identity. Jane Austen died on July 18, 1817, very soon after the events of Dangerous Alliance come to an end. Today, two centuries after the anniversary of her death, she has fans the world over. She is, as Virginia Woolf wrote in 1932, “the writer whose books are immortal.”

  One reason I love to read and write about this era is that by the end of the eighteenth century, even the English upper classes thought affection on both sides should be a prerequisite for marriage. Before then, advantageous—and often affectionless—marriages were the norm. By this period, the demands of the heart were finally taking priority over parents’ agendas when it came to making a match. Nevertheless, if you were really lucky, you could secure both! I hope you have enjoyed reading about the Astons and the Sherbornes and their small slice of life in late Georgian England.

  Acknowledgments

  Dangerous Alliance’s journey from story idea to the book you’re reading now is a long one—fourteen years in total. There were long stretches where I’d set it aside, but something would always compel me to come back. As the culmination of a goal I’ve had for so long, I have many wonderful people to thank who have helped and supported me over the years. To all my relatives and friends who’ve encouraged me and been so excited for me on this odyssey, I can’t possibly name you all, but you know who you are, and you have my love and gratitude.

  One of my initial readers was my thesis advisor at the U.S.C., Gina Nahai. Thank you, Gina, for being one of the first people outside my family to give me the confidence to believe I could be an author. My lovely writer friends, Kate Abbott, Rebecca Chastain, Delilah Marvelle, Tara Creel, and Lana Pattinson, read various versions of Dangerous Alliance out of the goodness of their hearts, gave me feedback on what I could do better, and steeled my resolve to keep revising and querying. Ladies, I salute you with hugs and a golden quill. To all my friends in the Novel Nineteens, thank you for your support and enthusiasm as we’ve gone through this exciting and sometimes daunting debut year together.

  Thank you so much to Jessica Cluess, Alexa Donne, Shelley Sackier, Samantha Hastings, and Tobie Easton for your wonderful blurbs and generosity. I appreciate it more than I can say.

  Many thanks to Brenda Drake and everyone involved in Pitch Wars 2016, including my fellow Pitch Warriors for the community, the information sharing, and the happy squealing over Twitter and Facebook. Of course, I can never speak of Pitch Wars without professing my gratitude to Tobie Easton, who picked Dangerous Alliance to mentor despite having an embarrassment of choices, helped me see all the issues I could no longer recognize after revising the book through so many iterations, and ended up being one of the greatest friends I could ask for. Thank you, Tobie, for talking me through difficulties and complications (both real and imagined) more times than I can count, for your selflessness, for your innate ability to cut to the root of a problem in both writing and in life, and for always being there. In my humble opinion, you’re simply the best.

  A million and one thanks must go to my editor Kristen Pettit for falling in love with Dangerous Alliance, for helping me strengthen it further, and for making it possible for my manuscript to become an actual, physical book. Thank you to Kasi Turpin for creating the gorgeous font on the cover and to Jessie Gang for designing such a beautiful book jacket and interior that evokes the tone and feel of the story so perfectly. Thank you also to Clare Vaughn, Jessica Berg, Gwen Morton, Alison Klapthor, Meghan Pettit, Shannon Cox, Kristopher Kam, and everyone at HarperCollins who worked on Dangerous Alliance. And of course, thank you so very much to my amazing, indomitable agent Jennifer Unter for your professionalism, your experience, your guidance, and everything else you’ve done to help make this dream of mine come true.

  Finally, I must thank my family who has loved and supported me and truly made me feel like I could make my goals become reality. Cheryl and Manouch, thank you for taking me into your family and for all your aid and encouragement over the years. I love you guys. Shaida, thank you for reading Dangerous Alliance so many times, for going to writing events with me, and for all the rest of it.

  Big hugs and thanks to my brother, Aaron, for always providing me with a different perspective and always having my back. To my sister, Mariella, thank you for listening when I’ve needed to vent, for cheering me on, for loving my characters as much as I do, and for continually being the best sister ever.

  My parents brought me up with a shining example of what love should be, instilled a love of reading and books in me from the time I was a toddler, gave me the confidence to believe I could make my dreams come true, and buoyed me in so many ways while I pursued this dream. Mom, thanks for all the long nights you stayed up reading me library books when I was a kid and for unapologetically introducing me to great romance novels at the right time.

  To my dad, Jonathan Cohen, whose love of books was boundless, who couldn’t have been more encouraging when I decided I wanted to be a writer, and who was always excited to read another version of Dangerous Alliance, I wish you could have seen this day. I can imagine your face and what you’d say and do, though, and I know you’d be as thrilled as I am. Thank you for always inspiring me, Dad. I love you always.

  And to Nasson: you deserve infinite thank yous for being my best friend, my biggest fan, and my staunchest advocate. I love you for everything you’ve done and everything you continue to do, and I feel lucky every single day to have you as my original YA hero.

  About the Author

  Photo credit Nasson Boroumand

  A lifelong lover of history and literature, JENNIEKE COHEN studied English history at Cambridge University before receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis. After interning with a literary agent and at Prima Games (an imprint of Penguin Random House), she entered the Master of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California. Cohen has worked as a writing consultant and as a ghostwriter and has written prescriptive nonfiction. She is a member of SCBWI, Romance Writers of America, and the Jane Austen Society of North America. When not writing or reading, Cohen can be found watching classic movies, drinking tea, singing opera and musical theater, and planning her next trip to England. She lives in California. You can visit her online at www.jenniekecohen.com, and find her on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

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  Praise for Dangerous Alliance

  “Charming and fun. Replete with intrigue, grand parties, and romantic entanglements, fans of Jane Austen will positively devour this book.”

  —Jessica Cluess, author of A Shadow Bright and Burning

  “Romance fans and Jane Austen devotees will devour this delicious Regency romp.”

  —Alexa Donne, author of Brightly Burning and The Stars We Steal

  “Bathed in Cohen’s richly textured language, Dangerous Alliance is a tale that boldly shines a light on issu
es women struggled with historically: abuse, obstruction, and dominance. The hunger to overcome these plights is what makes the story timeless.”

  —Shelley Sackier, author of The Antidote and The Freemason’s Daughter

  “Dangerous Alliance was entirely my cup of tea! It is the perfect combination of mystery, intriguing characters, surprising action, and delightful romance. I loved every single word.”

  —Samantha Hastings, author of The Last Word

  “A fresh, enchanting addition to the historical fiction genre! With her talent for vivid storytelling, Cohen whisks readers away to the picturesque estates of the English countryside as well as the sparkling ballrooms of the London season. Dangerous Alliance captivated me with its wit, romance, and intrigue. This is the perfect read for fans of Jane Austen and Downton Abbey!”

  —Tobie Easton, award-winning author of the Mer Chronicles series

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  Copyright

  HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

  DANGEROUS ALLIANCE. Copyright © 2019 by Jennieke Cohen. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.