The Footman
The Postilion*
The Bastard*
THE SEDUCERS
Melissa and The Vicar
Joss and The Countess
Hugo and The Maiden*
VICTORIAN DECADENCE
His Harlot
His Valet
His Countess
ANTHOLOGIES:
BACHELORS OF BOND STREET
THE ARRANGEMENT
*upcoming books
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Copyright © 2020 Shantal M. LaViolette
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First printing March 2020
eISBN: 978-1-951662-23-3
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For my wonderful readers
Chapter One
Kent, England
1817
Gareth Lockheart looked down at the snuffling brown and white balls of fur in some perplexity. “Do I really need so many?” he asked the Honorable Sandford Featherstone.
The puppies stirred and whimpered at the sound of his voice and the mother dog—or bitch, Gareth supposed she was called—gave him a look of reproach for waking her sleeping brood. Or flock. Or whatever one called a herd of puppies; puppies with a finer pedigree than Gareth Lockheart could claim.
Featherstone’s head bobbed up and down with an enthusiasm Gareth found exhausting. “Oh yes, this many and more if you are to hunt.”
Ah, hunting. He’d forgotten all about the supposed need for hunting. Gareth frowned at the prospect but didn’t bother arguing with the fussy, fine-boned aristocrat. After all, this was exactly the type of information he was paying Featherstone for: how to behave like a nob; how to build and furnish a house that looked as if toffs had been living in it for centuries.
Gareth had to pause for a moment in order to remind himself why he was doing this.
Ah yes, he recalled now: He was enduring all this upheaval and irritating discussion and excessive expenditure because his business partner—Declan McElroy—claimed they needed to present a civilized front if they were ever to gain credibility with the aristocracy and Gareth was more likely to be successful in such a venture. Gareth supposed the man had a point, although why he should trust Declan’s judgement on anything English was beyond him. After all, Declan despised the English and took great joy in acting more Irish than Irish, even though he’d never stepped foot on the Emerald Isle.