Victoria Alexander - The Lady Traveller's Guide To Deception With An Unlikely Earl

Set sail for love in this sparkling new adventure in #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander’s Lady Travelers Society series.

Harry Armstrong has spent years in Egypt, recovering relics and disregarding rules. Now he’s back in England with a new title and a new purpose: penning his exploits. But his efforts are overshadowed by London’s favorite writer about Egypt—a woman they call The Queen of the Desert, of all things. Worse, her stories—serialized in newspapers and reprinted in books—are complete rubbish.

Miss Sidney Honeywell didn’t set out to deceive anyone. It’s not her fault readers assumed her Tales of a Lady Adventurer in Egypt were real! Admitting her inadvertent deception now would destroy her reputation and her livelihood. But when the Earl of Brenton challenges her to travel to Egypt to prove her expertise, accompanied by his dashing, arrogant nephew, what choice does she have but to pack her bags?

With the matchmaking founders of the Lady Travelers Society in tow, Harry is determined to expose Sidney’s secret. But the truth might not be as great a revelation as discovering that love can strike even the most stubborn of hearts.

Also By Victoria Alexander

The Lady Travelers Society

The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger

The Rise and Fall of Reginald Everheart (novella)

The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen

The Proper Way to Stop a Wedding (in Seven Days or Less) (novella)

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The lady Travelers Guide to Deception with an Unlikely Earl

Victoria Alexander

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09543-3

THE LADY TRAVELERS GUIDE TO DECEPTION WITH AN UNLIKELY EARL

© 2018 Cheryl Griffin

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Praise for Victoria Alexander’s Lady Travelers Society series

The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen

“Alexander celebrates the spirit of adventure, elevates dubious scheming with good intentions, and advocates for the yielding of judgment and practicality to hedonism and happiness. Readers will savor every page.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Readers will immediately find themselves thoroughly disarmed by Alexander’s deliciously droll wit and flair for clever characterization, both of which are on full display in this exceptional start to the author’s sparkling new Lady Travelers Society series.”

—Booklist

“A delightfully humorous romantic adventure...the fun read of the season!”

—RT Book Reviews

“The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen is a mouthful to recite, but a delight to read.”

—Romance Reviews Today

“[It’s] exactly the sort of thing when you’re in the mood for a non-angsty, funny and well-written historical.”

—All About Romance

The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger

“A wonderful continuation of a highly enjoyable series.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“For love, laughter, and lots of fun, read Victoria Alexander.”

—Stephanie Laurens, New York Times bestselling author

“Victoria Alexander’s second Lady Travelers Society novel is a sparkling gem filled with witty dialogue, intriguing characters, and a delightful romance. I didn’t want to put it down.”

—The Romance Dish

You always need friends to help you through the desert—in Egypt and everywhere else. This book is for Lizzie, April, Mary, Jenn and Laura with gratitude and thanks for their generous and continuous help navigating the wilderness.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Praise

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

EPIGRAPH

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

EPIGRAPH

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EPIGRAPH

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPIGRAPH

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

EPILOGUE

AUTHOR NOTE

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

London, January 1892

“WOULD ANYONE CARE to explain this to me?” Sidney Althea Gordon Honeywell looked up from the newspaper clippings spread before her on the table in her small dining room. “Well?”

Across the table, three of the dearest ladies Sidney had ever known stared back at her, the very picture of elderly innocence.

“Anyone,” Sidney prompted. “Anyone at all?”

“I think it speaks for itself, dear,” Lady Guinevere Blodgett said in a vaguely chastising manner.

Mrs. Persephone Fitzhew-Wellmore nodded. She and Lady Blodgett had long insisted Sidney call them by their given names—Poppy and Gwen—in spite of the nearly fifty-year difference in their ages as it made them feel terribly old otherwise and they weren’t at all fond of that. “I don’t really see what needs to be explained.”