I Kissed a Rogue (Covent Garden Cubs) (35 page)

The wedding was obscene—the profusion of flowers, the gluttony of food and wine, the lengths of silk and satin, the dancing—yes! Dancing after a wedding! Even my uncle the duke danced, and his poor wife not dead a month from hanging. The whole family is scandalized, and yet he danced with the child they call Ginny. Indeed, children were everywhere at the wedding. I would have left early, but I did not want to miss a moment lest I not be able to report the occasion to you in its entirety. Not to mention, the charlotte of apples and apricots was quite divine.

I must tell you that Sir Brook’s family is every bit as wicked as we had thought. The late Duchess of Lennox’s treachery is nothing to the disgrace of the Derring family. I suppose the Earl of Dane and his sister Lady Susanna are charming enough, but the countess is outrageously uncouth. And Lady Susanna’s husband, a Mr. Dorrington, who I suspect is no better than a common rogue and has fooled them all. Even the dowager countess has married a man who speaks of nothing but botany. I feared I should perish from the alternating shock and tedium. Fortunately, the plum pudding was rather delicious and fortifying.

Even stranger, the bride and groom insisted a kindle of kittens attend the ceremony along with the mother cat. The kittens were most adorable, if you like that sort of thing, but also quite naughty. One snagged the hem of my new dress. And perhaps most shocking of all was the behavior of the bride and groom. My dear Madeleine, they could hardly keep their hands off each other. I thought we might all witness the husband’s claiming of his conjugal rights (as to that, I think they had already been claimed). I assure you I am quite overwrought from the event. If it had not been for the Banbury cakes, I do not know how I would have persevered.

Please do tell me all the news from Town. Have they concluded the trial of the lord suspected of the murder of the MP from Lincolnshire? Dear me, murders and plots and dancing at wedding breakfasts before noon. What is the world coming to?

Yours,

Lady Rose Pevensy-Lawson

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my fabulous agents, Joanna MacKenzie, Danielle Egan-Miller, and Abby Saul, for all their help and support. I’m so lucky to have you!

Thanks to my friend Gayle Cochrane, to whom this book is dedicated, for all your great ideas and cheerleading. Thanks also to the Shananigans: Sue, Lisa, Barbara, Susan, Ruth, Kristy, Patti, Connie, Nicole, Misty, Sarah, Flora, Monique, and Melanie!

Thanks go to Margo Maguire, who sparked the idea for this series, and Sophie Jordan and Lily Dalton, who brainstormed this book with me on those long drives to and from Buns and Roses in Dallas.

Thank you to my editor, Deb Werksman; editorial assistant, Eliza Smith; my production editor, Rachel Gilmer; and all the wonderful professionals I’m privileged to work with at Sourcebooks.

Most importantly, thank you to my friends, my family, and my readers for all you do to encourage and sustain me.

About the Author

Shana Galen is the bestselling author of passionate Regency romps, including the
RT
Reviewers’ Choice
The Making of a Gentleman
.
Kirkus
says of her books, “The road to happily-ever-after is intense, conflicted, suspenseful, and fun,” and
RT Book Reviews
calls her books “lighthearted yet poignant, humorous yet touching.” She taught English at the middle- and high-school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston’s inner city. Now she writes full-time. She’s happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making. Shana loves to hear from readers, so send her an email or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook and Twitter. Stop by her website at
shanagalen.com
.

Look for the dazzling new series of breathtaking Regency romance from Shana Galen

The Draven Club

At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, Lieutenant Colonel Draven led a troop of younger sons of nobility—the best, the brightest, but most importantly, the expendable—on a suicide mission that changed the course of history. Now, the surviving “Draven Dozen”—rakes and rogues before they left for war, now a group of restless renegades—must settle back into London Society and the world they left behind, facing new threats to their lives…and their hearts.

Coming soon from Sourcebooks Casablanca

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