A Spinster for the Wicked Duke

A SPINSTER FOR THE WICKED DUKE A STEAMY HISTORICAL REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL DAPHNE BYRNE CONTENTS Before You Start Reading… Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Epilogue Extended Epilogue Preview: Daring the Wicked Duke Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Also by Daphne Byrne About the Author BEFORE YOU START READING… Did you know that there’s a special place where you can chat with me and with thousands of like-minded bookworms all over the globe?! Join Cobalt Fairy’s facebook group of voracious readers and I guarantee you, you’d wish you had joined us sooner! Let’s connect, right NOW! Just click on the image above! ⇧ ABOUT THE BOOK She had no desire to chase…But the Duke wanted to be caught… Lady Thalia knows she has no place in the echelons of high-society, as her father’s funds are running dangerously low. But when a chance is presented to spend three weeks in the summer house of the Dowager Duchess of Hereford, she doesn’t realize her life is about to change forever. Spending his summer mingling with his mother’s guests is not on Duke Colin’s list of fun activities. But suddenly everyone gets sick, except for the intriguing vixen that has been on his mind since he first saw her… And Colin will not let her get away, no matter the scandal. CHAPTER 1 Aspendale Summer House Summer, 1818 “You will love it, Thalia, I just know it!” Lady Letitia Wright said to her cousin, Thalia Rousseaux, and Thalia grimaced as she looked out the window of the carriage at the illustrious country estate. Thalia bit her lip, hating to disagree with her cousin and best friend, but she was uncertain. Letitia had managed to get her an invitation to an excursion at the Dowager Duchess of Hereford’s estate for a few weeks. “Have you met her before?” Thalia asked, fidgeting with the edge of her gloves. They were at least a few seasons out of date, and she worried that everyone there would notice. “Only a few times, so I was grateful to gain an invitation! Her son is very handsome, however, and he will be here too. Father and Mother were already scheduled to spend the summer elsewhere, but they thought I should go on my own.” She crinkled her nose. “They think it will help me to get a husband, you know.” Thalia chuckled. “You, my dear, will be hard-pressed not to find one here if there are many gentlemen coming. You had a very successful Season with more admirers than you knew what to do with.” Letitia rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat. She blew a brown curl out of her eyes and folded her hands over her lap. “That was simply entertainment; I did not love any of them. I most certainly want to marry for love, you know, and I intend to, no matter what my father has to say on the subject.” Thalia felt her heart ache and not for the first time. She had dreamed for years of marrying for love and just love although her father had hoped she would be the one to advance his station. He was the soon-to-be penniless Baron Featherstone. He had lost much of his money in bad investments in the last few years, and she was now shouldering the responsibility of finding a proper and wealthy husband in order to save him. But no one will look my way. “I hope you do marry for love, Letitia,” she said kindly. Thalia loved her dear, beautiful, cousin, and she only wished good things for her. “Oh, you will too!” Letitia cried, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. She leaned across the slowing carriage and gripped Thalia’s hand. Thalia looked down at her cousin’s white kid leather gloves, completely in fashion. “I know you will,” Letitia said with a wink. “There will be many handsome gentlemen at this party, and I am determined that you should make a match with one of them.” Thalia blushed at the thought. “Oh, Letitia, do not think of doing anything rash!” she cried, and Letitia laughed just as the carriage stopped, and a footman approached them. “I think I am quite the matchmaker. Leave it with me!” She tapped the side of her nose, and Thalia shook her head. She wanted to call out that no man would marry her, for with her red hair, short stature, and curvy appearance, she was not what the poets and artists thought of as beautiful in this age. And she had no money to attract a suitor either. But the footman opened the door and set the stairs in place, reaching out for Letitia’s hand. There would have to be time later to speak. Letitia exited first and then Thalia, and Thalia could feel her palms sweating underneath her gloves as she took in the home. It was beautiful: tall and stately with Grecian columns, perfectly cut hedges, and ivy crawling over the white façade. It was imposing yet elegant. It showed wealth and power and everything that Thalia did not have. “Isn’t it beautiful?” Letitia said, taking Thalia’s arm as they walked up the short drive to the stairs where an older woman was waiting for them. “And everyone else seems to be arriving just after us.” She pointed to the other carriages not far behind. Thalia’s heart bumped wildly against her ribs, and she tried to swallow her nerves, remembering her manners. While she was nobility, and had been taught as such, she had never been very good in crowds of people, especially those who were her betters. “Welcome to you both,” the older woman said with a slight smile. “Lady Wright, you are