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Eleanor Swinson, the eldest daughter of the recently deceased Baron Hardwick, attempts a brave countenance as she and her sisters await the arrival of the new heir to the barony. They have received a letter from Mr. Harold Swinson which she can hardly make sense of, but he is an American from New York so that is to be expected. The general tone of it seems conciliatory so she supposes she and her sisters will not be thrown to the road.
What precisely they will face, she cannot guess. The new baron’s letter mentions that his wife, Mrs. Martha Swinson, is prepared to take on five motherless girls with gusto. They are all vaguely alarmed that anything is to be done with gusto, as it sounds rather gauche. In response to the threat of going about things with gusto, Eleanor’s sisters have taken to praying that the baron’s ship will sink, though they pray silently as they are greatly opposed to being rude. The dowager, the leader of their family at the moment, has very predictably put herself to bed for the foreseeable future.
To compound the irritation of the unknown that is swirling in Eleanor's thoughts, there is the added irritation of the high-handed eldest son of the earl on a nearby estate. Lord Radcliff has returned for her father's funeral and for some reason has not since taken himself off somewhere. Eleanor is hardly in the mood for endless commentaries on what she ought to do and think, and even less interested in being battered by random facts he’d picked up at Oxford. He is long done with his schooling, and yet he never seems to forget any of it.
With a deep breath and an iron backbone, Eleanor Swinson is prepared to face her future. If that future contains Lord Radcliff trailing her round like a duenna, a certain earl sending her endless bouquets of flowers, a less than mysterious mystery evening, tales of a long-ago kidnaping, an encounter with threatening men in the park, lemon tarts that almost lead to blows, or a pair of Americans who are not what she expects, well, the future often is unexpected.
Kate Archer is the author of 30+ regency romances, including the new The Spectacular Swinsons, The Dukes' Pact six book series, A Series of Worthy Young Ladies six book series, A Very Fine Muddle six book series, A Series of Senseless Complications seven book series and The League of Meddling Butlers six book series.
Genre: Historical Romance
What precisely they will face, she cannot guess. The new baron’s letter mentions that his wife, Mrs. Martha Swinson, is prepared to take on five motherless girls with gusto. They are all vaguely alarmed that anything is to be done with gusto, as it sounds rather gauche. In response to the threat of going about things with gusto, Eleanor’s sisters have taken to praying that the baron’s ship will sink, though they pray silently as they are greatly opposed to being rude. The dowager, the leader of their family at the moment, has very predictably put herself to bed for the foreseeable future.
To compound the irritation of the unknown that is swirling in Eleanor's thoughts, there is the added irritation of the high-handed eldest son of the earl on a nearby estate. Lord Radcliff has returned for her father's funeral and for some reason has not since taken himself off somewhere. Eleanor is hardly in the mood for endless commentaries on what she ought to do and think, and even less interested in being battered by random facts he’d picked up at Oxford. He is long done with his schooling, and yet he never seems to forget any of it.
With a deep breath and an iron backbone, Eleanor Swinson is prepared to face her future. If that future contains Lord Radcliff trailing her round like a duenna, a certain earl sending her endless bouquets of flowers, a less than mysterious mystery evening, tales of a long-ago kidnaping, an encounter with threatening men in the park, lemon tarts that almost lead to blows, or a pair of Americans who are not what she expects, well, the future often is unexpected.
Kate Archer is the author of 30+ regency romances, including the new The Spectacular Swinsons, The Dukes' Pact six book series, A Series of Worthy Young Ladies six book series, A Very Fine Muddle six book series, A Series of Senseless Complications seven book series and The League of Meddling Butlers six book series.
Genre: Historical Romance
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