Showing results by author "M.C. Beaton" in Historical Fiction

Fashionable society regards Sir Benjamin Wright with the utmost honour and respect. Yet Lady Emma knows that her husband is, in fact, a drunken, jealous brute who delights in humiliating her both in and out of the bedroom. So, his unexpected murder is a blessing, she thinks - that is, until the constable's accusing finger points to her as the murderer. But it soon becomes apparent that her late husband hid many secrets and enemies.

Annabelle Carruthers can only dream of being kissed by a man as dashing as Lord Darkwood. She remains locked in misery - married to a rakish drunk who gambles their lives into financial and social ruin. His sudden death - and rumours of spies and treachery - only make matters worse. Burdened with her dead husband's gambling debts, Annabelle fears that she is on her way to the poorhouse. The only solution Annabelle can see to avoid this is to offer herself up as mistress to the mysterious Lord Darkwood!

Polly was a bewitching young girl, that pretty Polly Marsh, and she knew it. She also knew that beauty could be her passport into the castles where she had always known she belonged. So she set her sights for a duke and joined the firm of Westerman's as a stenographer. Surely one of that noble family would notice her and then all of her dreams would come true!

No young lady can be more devoted to the teachings of the infamous blue stocking Mrs Waverley than Felicity, her adopted author. Yet Felicity leads a secret life: that of an author of a scandalous new novel - the tale of a lady 'rake' and her passionate exploits. Yet there is one titled gentleman who is intrigued with this mysterious, headstrong young woman who is taking Society by storm - and Felicity soon learns that real life is infinitely more interesting than fiction!

The Earl of Tredair has had his fill of balls, routs, and silly misses, and he despairs of finding anyone out of the ordinary - that is, until he meets Miss Fanny Waverley. Most unique and intriguing, she and her two sisters are the adopted daughters of the reclusive bluestocking Madame Waverley. They have been raised as her disciples to spread the word of women's rights and to encourage poor oppressed females to stand up against the iniquities of the male sex.

Lovely but penniless Harriet Metcalf is horrified when she is named in a nobleman's will as guardian of his two ghastly and snobbish twin daughters. The innocent Harriet doesn't feel wily enough to cope with the intricacies of the London Season - not to mention two of its most eligible bachelors, the Marquis of Huntington and Lord Vere.

Every Season the beaux mondes of the Regency would hire a house in the heart of London's fashionable West End at a disproportionately high rent for often inferior accommodation and yet No.67 Clarges Street, a town house complete with staff, remains vacant from year to year.

It's up to the servants of No. 67 Clarges Street to hatch a scheme... and arrange a match! "Oh, to be as beautiful as Euphemia!" sighs plain Jane Hart when she joins her sister at No.67 for the Season, as then Lord Tregarthan might notice her... as she has noticed him and forever lost her heart. And while it is Euphemia's fate to flit her way through balls and into the arms of a marquis, Jane's is to stay at home... until the Downstairs staff transform the plain Miss into the Season's sensation and send her waltzing into a daring liaison with the man of her dreams!

Lord Guy Carlton, late of His Majesty's Regiment and weary from the war in France, has only wine, women and song in mind when he rents No. 67 Clarges Street for the season. He certainly has no desire for a serious attachment - and as for marriage: never!

When the Duke of Pelham returns to his town house at 67 Clarges Street he is grimly determined to find himself a suitable wife, and love will have nothing to do with his selection.

The poor relations banded together some time ago to run The Poor Relation Hotel in the hope their embarrassed relatives would buy them out, but as the hotel prospered, so they began to enjoy the fruit of their labour. But once again they need money to go on and so poor, faded Miss Tonks is dispatched to her rich sister to steal something valuable from her in order to keep the hotel on its feet.

Longing for a life of emancipation, Lady Rose Summer has abandoned the comforts of her parent's house to become self supporting. But life as a working woman isn't quite as liberating as Rose has imagined - fortunately for her, though, her drudgery comes to an end when old acquaintance Freddy Pomfret is murdered and her help - and upper class connections - are required by amateur sleuth Captain Harry Cathcart.

Lady Rose Summer prides herself on not being a jealous woman - and she knows her engagement to Captain Harry Cathcart is only a ruse to keep her parents from shipping her off to India to find a husband. But then Harry's latest client, Dolores Duval - French, curvaceous, flirtatious - starts appearing everywhere at his side. And that changes everything. In a fit of temper Rose threatens Dolores - only to be found the very next day standing over her dead body.

What do you do if you are of noble stock, but impoverished, and living in London with a certain style to maintain? One has to work... but One's relatives will be appalled when One turns One's hand to trade - and opens a hotel, The Poor Relation, offering employment to others of the same social standing and in the same awkward situation. This is precisely what Mrs Fortescue decides upon and, together with friend Colonel Sandhurst, transforms her decrepit Bond Street home into a posh hotel, offering guests the pleasure of being waited upon by the nobility.

Matilda, Duchess of Hadshire, was a virtual prisoner of a cruel husband who romanced his mistress right under the duchess's nose. Her only joy was dreaming of the handsome Earl of Torridon - for he, like her, was trapped in a horrid marriage and longed to find true love and happiness. Though she secretly wished for the death of her unkind husband, Matilda never imagined the guilt that would plague her when the illustrious duke was befittingly murdered by his own regular lady! When Matilda turned to Torridon for comfort, she discovered a few surprises in store for both of them.

It would seem that even a pretend engagement cannot keep Lady Rose Summer from trouble. Bored with endless parties, teas and balls, she befriends Dolly Tremaine, a beautiful young girl newly arrived from the country and overwhelmed by the demands of the Season. Their friendship is cut tragically short, however, when Dolly is found dead in the river, with flowers in her hair and blood on her breast.

After a brief and ill-advised dalliance with the Suffragette movement, Lady Rose Summers' debut season in London society turns out to be a complete disaster. Rose's father suspects that her fiancé, Sir Geoffrey Blandon, is a first class scoundrel and calls in Captain Harry Cathcart to investigate. But when a malicious guest is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Rose becomes far more interested in discovering the truth than in landing a more appropriate suitor.

As usual, the poor relations are in need of money to finance the hotel and this time it is up to Colonel Sandhurst to come to the rescue. After coming across Sir Randolph's daughter Frederica, who is running away to escape an awful marriage to Lord Bewley, the Colonel devises a plan to force Sir Randolph to settle his six month outstanding hotel bill and save Frederica from her terrible fate.

Certainly the two should never have met. The handsome, wealthy Marquess of Rockingham was the most notorious man in London, as infamous for his violent temper as he was for his intemperate ways. Miss Lucinda Westerville was a country vicar's daughter, as innocent as she was lovely and as proper as a young lady could possibly be. Yet when this improbably matched pair met at a glittering social ball, they had struck the dubious bargain to become man and wife - in name only!

When Amy and Effie Tribble, two charming but impoverished spinster sisters, lose out on an inheritance, they place this advertisement in The Morning Post and hire themselves out as professional chaperones. Vowing to prepare even the most difficult misses for marriage, the Tribble sisters will spend a London season on each client, educating them in their School for Manners. Felicity Baronsheath, their first assignment, turns out to be more of a challenge than they could have ever imagined. Not only is Felicity indifferent to the idea of marriage, she is also a spoilt brat!