Chloe nodded excitedly, undeterred by Annabelle’s comments. “You’re right of course. It can’t be a scientific journal. It’s more of a chronicle. Stories that have worked and have failed. We’ll change the names, of course, but it will give ladies an opportunity to know if they may or may not have any hope of reforming the rogues of England.”
Penny drew in a steadying breath as she carefully placed her tea cup back in its saucer and set it down on the side table. Folding her hands, she looked at Chloe. “I know none of us have a reputation to preserve…”
Chloe nodded with a great deal of enthusiasm, her head bobbing up and down. “Exactly.”
“But still, the book could be damaging. As could mixing ourselves in with known rakes. While all of us are ruined, none of us have actually…” How did one delicately say none of them had ever been with a man?
Chloe waved her hand but both Annabelle and Penny stilled. Caroline shifted in her seat. “Penny is right. I have proven that I am not equipped for cavorting with rakes.”
Penny inwardly winced. Caroline had been caught kissing a known rake, Lord Parks, in the garden of the Earl of Haversham’s summer estate. Her friend knew better than any of them the consequences of being caught in such an endeavor.
Chloe leaned forward. “But don’t you see. That puts you in a better position than anyone to inform other debutantes how to avoid such a pitfall. Ladies with pristine reputations could not risk this sort of activity. Don’t you want to help other ladies to keep from being ruined?”
Caroline cocked her head to the side. “Wait. Are we helping them to tame rakes or avoid them?”
Chloe placed a finger on her chin. “Consider it a list of what you should and should not do. For example: Do hold yourself away from them. At worst they will lose interest and at best they may decide you are worth pursuing in a more serious manner.”
Caroline stood and crossed to the window. “Do not, under any circumstances, allow them to kiss you under a flowering pear tree,” she said as she pulled back the curtain to look out upon the busy London street. She let out a long sigh. “Even if I agree with your intent, I am not sure I have it in me to pretend enough to gather information.”
Penny’s insides twisted. She had her own very personal reasons for wanting to avoid rakes. Though she hadn’t been ruined the way Caroline had with rakish behavior, she’d been ruined all the same. And the man had been a rogue of another kind. He’d also been her father. “Trust me when I say no good ever comes from consorting with men of this ilk, no matter how good your intentions.”
Annabelle looked back at her then, her eyes crinkling in sympathy.
Even Chloe seemed to deflate, her shoulders hunching in her chair as her hands pressed together. “I understand your hesitation—”
Penny narrowed her gaze. She loved Chloe but her friend could be single-minded when an idea took hold. “I do not understand your enthusiasm.”
Chloe gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes not meeting Penny’s. “I could have used some help when Fin was courting me. It’s all worked out of course, but I was afraid his intentions were not pure, and I resisted far more than was necessary. It would have been nice to have some guidance.”
Penny let out a long breath. She was being too hard on Chloe. Her gaze drifted to Caroline’s, her friend’s lovely features still pinched. Maybe this exercise would be good for her friend. Maybe this would be good for Penny. She clearly was still resentful of how her father had left her in this world. If it hadn’t been for Caroline, she’d be on the street this very minute.
“Caroline, what do you think?” Penny asked as she once again picked up her saucer and teacup. If Caroline needed this sort of endeavor, she’d do it for her friend.
The curtain fell from Caroline’s hand as she straightened her shoulders. “We’ll do it. Annie?”
Annabelle nodded with a sigh. “The lack of science is what concerns me but I’ll help if I can.”
Penny nearly flinched. Perhaps her mother would have benefitted from such a book. Drawing in a deep breath, she gave a stiff nod. “We’re creating a book to demystify the elusive rogue.”
Lord Wesley Preston, Earl of Preston, or Wes, as the fellow soldiers in his regiment had called him when they weren’t referring to him as Captain, sat in his small room above the gentleman’s club on Ralston Street. In the back was a secret gaming hall known only to the worst men of English society so he, of course, was intimately acquainted with its interior. Not that he’d graced it recently. One needed funds to participate in such endeavors and he’d run out some months ago.
But his friend, the Earl of Exmouth, had taken pity on him and allowed him to use this room.
He stood at the window and watched the masked men enter through the back door. When he’d first discovered such delights were available to men of his station, he’d thought he’d been given the keys to a secret garden. It wasn’t until recently that he’d changed his mind. The path he’d been on wasn’t a heavenly garden but an expensive trip to hell.
Wes had inherited a failing earldom from his second cousin, a duty he’d never wanted. He’d left his successful career in the military to take over the title. Leaving the military had been a mistake. Where in battle, he’d been successful, he’d been a failure as an earl. Bad investments and a questionable accountant had plagued him as had a drought on his farmland. Rather than shoring up the title, he’d lost every bit that wasn’t entailed and he’d hidden himself in the carnal pleasure available to him.
Until it wasn’t. His fist clenched against the wood frame of the window. He had no money left, not even enough for a bottle of brandy. This room had been provided to him out of pity only. He was a man who’d fought the French, led other men into battle. Now? He was a man others took pity on. Pathetic.
Pushing off the window, he crossed to the desk on the other side of the small room. A few pieces of parchment and an inkwell and pen sat on top. Seating himself at the desk, he began to write a letter to his old friend, the Earl of Dryden. They’d known each other for near a decade and Dryden had recently taken a leap into matrimony. Surely, he could help Wes find the correct path again. Wes ran his fingers through his hair. This felt like his last chance.
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About the Author
Tammy Andresen lives with her husband and three children just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up on the Seacoast of Maine, where she spent countless days dreaming up stories in blueberry fields and among the scrub pines that line the coast. Her mother loved to spin a yarn and Tammy filled many hours listening to her mother retell the classics. It was inevitable that at the age of eighteen, she headed off to Simmons College, where she studied English literature and education. She never left Massachusetts but some of her heart still resides in Maine and her family visits often.
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Find out more about Tammy:
http://www.tammyandresen.com/
https://www.facebook.com/authortammyandresen
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https://plus.google.com/+TammyAndresen/
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Read Tammy Andresen’s other books:
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Seeds of Love: Prequel to the Lily in Bloom series
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Lily in Bloom
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Midnight Magic
Other Titles by Tammy Andresen
How to Reform a Rake
Don’t Tell a Duke You Love Him
Meddle in a Marquess’s Affairs
Never Trust an Errant Earl
Never Kiss an Earl at Midnight
Make a Viscount Beg
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Earl of Sussex
My Duke’s Seduction
My Duke’s Deception
My Earl’s Entrapment
My Duke’s Desire
My Wicked
Earl
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Brethren of Stone
The Duke’s Scottish Lass
Scottish Devil
Wicked Laird
Kilted Sin
Rogue Scot
The Fate of a Highland Rake
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A Laird to Love
Christmastide with my Captain
My Enemy, My Earl
Heart of a Highlander
A Scot’s Surrender
A Laird’s Seduction
An Earl’s Forsaken Bride
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Taming the Duke’s Heart
Taming a Duke’s Reckless Heart
Taming a Laird’s Wild Lady
Taming a Rake into a Lord
Taming a Savage Gentleman
Taming a Rogue Earl
Taming a Christmas Wallflower
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Fairfield Fairy Tales
Stealing a Lady’s Heart
Hunting for a Lady’s Heart
Entrapping a Lord’s Love
Luring a Lady’s Love
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American Historical Romance
Lily in Bloom
Midnight Magic
The Golden Rules of Love
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Boxsets!!
Taming the Duke’s Heart Books 1-3
Taming the Duke’s Heart Books 4-6
American Brides