Laurie Benson - An Uncommon Duke

Confessions of a Regency duke...

When the Duke of Winterbourne proposed to Olivia, she felt like the luckiest girl alive. Their happy marriage was the envy of the ton. But all that changed when Gabriel wasn’t there the night Olivia gave birth to their son...

Gabriel’s life is rooted in darkness, and he’s learned the hard way not to trust anyone with the truth. Yet, now his wife wants to try for another child...and Gabriel must bare his secrets in order to bring Olivia back into his bed, and by his side, forever!

Secret Lives of the Ton

What Society doesn’t know...

Meet Julian Carlisle, the Duke of Lyonsdale, Gabriel Pearce, the Duke of Winterbourne, and Phineas Attwood, the Earl of Hartwick.

In the eyes of the ton, these three gentlemen are handsome, upstanding men who—mostly!—play by the rules. But what Society doesn’t know is that, behind closed doors, these three men are living scandalous lives and hiding scandalous secrets!

Read Julian’s story in

An Unsuitable Duchess

Already available

Read Gabriel’s story in

An Uncommon Duke

Available now

And read Hart’s story in

The Unexpected Countess

Coming soon!

Author Note

The idea for this story came to me after I learned about the possible assassination attempt of the Prince Regent that occurred on January 28, 1817, when he was returning from the opening of Parliament. Thinking about that event led me to imagine a second assassination attempt, taking place a year later, with other motives behind it. I know this isn’t a very romantic thing to think about when you’re beginning to write a romance novel, but that is where it all began.

Thank you for choosing to spend some time with An Uncommon Duke. I hope you enjoy Gabriel and Olivia’s story. For more information about my next book in the Secret Lives of the Ton mini-series, which features the Earl of Hartwick, please visit my website at lauriebenson.netfor details. While you’re there, you can also find information about some of the other interesting historical titbits I uncovered while doing research for this book.

An Uncommon Duke

Laurie Benson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

LAURIE BENSON is an award-winning historical romance author and Golden Heart® Award finalist. She began her writing career as an advertising copywriter, where she learned more than anyone could ever want to know about hot dogs and credit score reports. When she isn’t at her laptop avoiding laundry, Laurie can be found browsing museums or taking ridiculously long hikes with her husband and two sons. You can visit her at lauriebenson.net.

Books by Laurie Benson

Mills & Boon Historical Romance

Secret Lives of the Ton

An Unsuitable Duchess

An Uncommon Duke

Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk..

Many thanks to my editor Kathryn Cheshire for your insightful input and encouraging words. And to Linda Fildew, Nic Caws, Krista Oliver and the rest of the Mills & Boon Historical team, thanks for all you’ve done to help bring Gabriel and Olivia’s story into the world.

To my agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan with Handspun Literary Agency, your generous spirit is a gift. Some day both of us will sleep past six in the morning. In the meantime, I toast you with my coffee.

Jen, Mia, Lori and Lisa, thank you for being such wonderful critique partners, beta readers and friends. For Marnee, Terry and Gareth, thanks for being there on those days when chocolate and coffee were of no help.

To my family, I’m sorry to say there are no unicorns, aliens or vampires in this book. Someday I’ll write a story about an alien vampire unicorn just for the three of you. In the meantime, know that your love and support mean the world to me.

For the kind people who helped me with my research, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. And to those of you who shared unusual Regency era titbits and antiques with me because you thought I’d find them interesting, thank you. I hope you have fun seeing how I used those items in this story.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Author Note

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

London, England—1818

Being shot at always left Gabriel Pearce, Duke of Winterbourne, in a foul mood. It didn’t matter that this time he wasn’t the intended target. It didn’t matter that he had saved the Prince Regent by tackling him to the floor of his coach. And, it didn’t matter that the shot had narrowly missed Gabriel. Being shot at was a nuisance that meant his orderly life would be thrown into chaos for the unforeseeable future.

Three hours after his coach had sped down the rutted country road, whisking the Prince Regent to the safety of Carlton House, Gabriel stood in his dressing room attempting to tie his cravat into a perfect Trône d’Amour. He had performed the task countless times. One would think he could do it in his sleep. Apparently, with the events of today playing out in his mind, one would be wrong.

Peering closer at his reflection in the mirror, he tore the linen from his neck. Bloody hell! There should be no ripples in the knot, only one dent! Hodges, his valet, immediately handed him another freshly starched neckcloth.

‘Just tie it into a waterfall and be done with it,’ his brother Andrew called out, walking into the room and dropping into the wingback chair beside the mirror.

‘Too plebeian,’ Gabriel bit out, his attention fixed on the task at hand.

‘That’s how I tie my cravats.’

Raking a critical gaze over Andrew’s brown tailcoat and the unimpressive shine to his shoes, Gabriel arched a brow.

‘Ho, I see now,’ Andrew said with a smirk. ‘Some day I will shock you and wear something you deem acceptable.’

‘If you would finally allow me to find you an acceptable valet, that might happen sooner rather than later.’

‘I’m quite content with the one I have, thank you. How many neckcloths have you handed my brother, Hodges?’

‘Six, my lord.’

Andrew sighed and studied the coffered ceiling. ‘Shall I wait in your study? If you continue on this path to perfection it might take some time and I could be enjoying your fine brandy while I wait.’

‘I’ll be but a moment. There is brandy by the window.’ Gabriel closed his eyes and managed to push all thoughts of gunshots, shattered glass and a frightened Prince Regent from his mind. Concentrating on each specific turn of the cloth, he finally tied a perfect knot.

Now he could attend to more important matters.

He nodded to Hodges, and the elderly man quietly left the brothers alone behind closed doors.

‘Please tell me we caught the blackguard,’ Gabriel said, accepting a glass of brandy.

Andrew dropped back into the chair and stretched out his long legs. ‘Spence jumped from his tiger’s perch the moment the shots were fired and caught the man. He was taken to the Tower—however, he refuses to talk.’