A Wallflower for the Rakish Earl

A WALLFLOWER FOR THE RAKISH EARL A STEAMY HISTORICAL REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL BLUESTOCKINGS RUINED BOOK THREE DAPHNE BYRNE CONTENTS Before You Start Reading… Prologue 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 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Epilogue Extended Epilogue Preview: A Deal with the Marquess of Scandal 1. London, Mayfair, the Dowager Duchess of Hereford’s home 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 “A false betrothal, just until the end of the season. After that, you are free of me forever, if that’s what you want.” At twenty-five, Lady Emily is a spinster, through and through. Her parents are anxious to marry her off, so they choose a man thrice her age - in the hopes that he will die sooner rather than later. But Emily would rather remain alone forever than be with that man, and she is desperate. So desperate that she would ask her friend-turned-worst nightmare for help. When Lord Jacob, the Earl of Rutland, sees his biggest temptation in his bachelor’s lodgings in the middle of the night, he thinks he is going mad. Especially after she asks him to get fake-betrothed to her. Nothing about their desire is fake, though. Will their shared past keep them apart, or bring them closer than ever? PROLOGUE 5 Years Ago… Jacob drank the last of his whiskey and slammed the glass down on the table. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a very uncouth thing for a young earl, but what use was a title if you did not reap some benefits from it? Besides, who was there to tell him not to do such a thing? “Is it uncouth to drink ale in such an establishment, Noah?” Jacob asked. “Uncouth? Yes, that is what makes us uncouth. If you were not uncouth, I would not give you the time of day, Lord Rutland.” His friend replied with a smirk. “Please do not call me that, Noah. You sound like my grandfather before his passing. He never called me Jacob, and I was always sure he was angry at me.” “All right. Come, we should leave. I am sure you have Earl-y duties to attend to.” Jacob half stood up before he heard what his friend had said. Noah raised a finger in warning. “I did not mean it like that, Jacob. Please do not—” he managed to say before he was interrupted by Jacob’s laughter. The two friends made their way out of Whyte’s and out into the London evening. It was not yet extremely late, only a little past nine, but there was a chill in the air. Copious amounts of ale warmed them from the inside, and they did not feel the bite of the cold. They were about to get into their carriages when they spotted a carriage across the way that had a man fussing around it. No, two men. One looked like the driver, and the other looked like the passenger. “Oh, blast!” came the shout from across the road. “Now, I shall never get her to the ball.” Noah looked at his friend. “A damsel in distress? Two fine gentlemen cannot walk past without helping, can they?” “We shall have to find two gentlemen to find out,” Jacob joked. Jacob clapped his friend on the back, and they made their way across the road. They had just started crossing when the curtain opened a little, and Jacob spotted a pair of eyes. It was dark, but he knew exactly who they belonged to. They were eyes he had looked into many times and lost himself. Lady Emily had been his friend for many years, and she had helped him through some tough times, and there was no other way to say it, but he was in love with her. “Lady Emily,” Jacob whispered. “Lady Emily? The daughter of the Marquess of Remington?” “The very same.” The mere sight of her sobered him up. She lingered at the window for a moment longer before she hid herself behind the curtain again. The man must have been her cousin. Jacob was sure she had spoken of him recently, and he was in town to accompany her to the seasonal balls. Not that she ever wanted to be married. “Perhaps I will change her mind,” Jacob murmured. “What are you talking about, Jacob?” “She is the one whom I will marry,” Jacob replied. “She is the one who will make an honest man out of me. Is she not wondrous, Noah?” “The drink has taken hold of you. Please keep this nonsense to yourself. We will speak of it more in the morning. I had no idea you felt like that, not that I believe you do.” Noah waved at the man who was looking at the carriage wheel. He hissed at Jacob, “Why didn’t you tell me this?” “Good evening,” said the well-dressed man. He was young and wore a suit fit for a ball, but his face was as deep red as a plum. “Are you in need of any assistance?” asked Jacob. “I believe that is Lady Emily in the coach. We are friends of hers.” Noah elbowed his friend and hissed quietly, “Why are you staring at the window like that?” “Emily, do you know