"If I could have foreseen the future, I would have married the first man who asked me!"
Tongues were set wagging when Elizabeth Markham's glamorous young parents were killed, sinking their only child to the unspeakable class of poor relation. Forced to live with her cruel, miserly uncle Julius, Elizabeth is forbidden to partake in the season's festivities. Marriage is her only escape, and she enacts a daring plan to trick her way into the Duke of Dunster's exclusive house party, to snare one of the eligible dandies sure to dance attendance on her.
Her plan proceeds swimmingly, as Elizabeth flirts with all but the arrogant Lord Charles Lufford, considered to be quite a catch. She ignores him thoroughly until her uncle discovers her deception and Charles saves her—by announcing their engagement!
But Elizabeth's troubles are far from over, for in her absence she had come into an inheritance. And her uncle, along with one other sinister party would rather see her perish than receive it.
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“[Beaton] is a romance writer who deftly blends humor and adventure…[sustaining] her devoted audience to the last gasp.”
— Booklist, praise for the author
“Nobody writes Jane Austen like [M. C. Beaton]…[She] gets it right every time.”
— Detroit Free Press, praise for the author“The best of the Regency writers.”
— Kirkus Reviews, praise for the authorM. C. Beaton (1936–2019), hailed as the “Queen of Crime” by the Globe and Mail, was the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Agatha Raisin novels—the basis for the hit series on Acorn TV—as well as the Hamish Macbeth series. Born in Scotland, Beaton also wrote nearly one hundred historical romances under several pseudonyms. Her books have been translated into nineteen languages and sold more than twenty-two million copies worldwide.
Charlotte Anne Dore is a member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA. She works in theater and film around New England. She played Elizabeth Hopkins in The American Experience and was a gorilla puppeteer in Zookeeper. She runs the award-winning Rosalita’s Puppets. As a storyteller, she has worked for Ghost and Gravestones ghost tour and Read Boston, a summer reading program.