It was not because of the voice itself.
“What is the meaning of this?” the chancellor thundered.
Haven could see it then, the cause of the commotion. A woman. A woman in the most beautiful lavender dress he’d ever seen, perfectly turned out, as though she marched into Parliamentary session on a regular basis. As though she were the Prime Minister himself. As though she were more than that. As though she were royalty.
The only woman he’d ever loved. The only woman he’d ever hated.
And Haven, frozen to the spot.
“I confess,” she said, as though she were at a tea party, moving to the floor of the chamber, “I feared I would miss the session altogether. But I’m very happy that I might sneak in before you all escape to wherever it is that you gentlemen venture for . . . pleasure. I shan’t be more than a moment.” She grinned at an ancient earl who blushed under the heat of her gaze and turned away. “But I understand that what I seek requires an Act of Parliament. And you are . . . as you know . . . Parliament.”
That was when her gaze found his, her eyes precisely as he remembered, as blue as a summer sky. No. Not the same. Different. Where they were once open and honest, they were now shuttered. Blank.
As though she, too, were escaped to somewhere else.
She watched him for a long moment, her gaze unblinking, and then declared, “I am Seraphina Bevingstoke, Duchess of Haven. And I require a divorce.”
About the Author
A life-long romance reader, SARAH MACLEAN wrote her first romance novel on a dare, and never looked back. She is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical romances, and the author of a monthly column at The Washington Post celebrating the best of the romance genre. She lives in New York City.
Visit her at www.sarahmaclean.net.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Romances by Sarah MacLean
Scandal & Scoundrel
A Scot in the Dark
The Rogue Not Taken
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished
One Good Earl Deserves a Lover
A Rogue by Any Other Name
Love by Numbers
Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart
Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake
The Season
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from The Day of the Duchess copyright © 2017 by Sarah Trabucchi.
a scot in the dark. Copyright © 2016 by Sarah Trabucchi. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
EPub Edition SEPTEMBER 2016 ISBN: 9780062379443
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062379429
first edition
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