Read an Excerpt from Jane Ashford's A RADICAL ARRANGEMENT

About A RADICAL ARRANGEMENT

Brash and Handsome

Sir Justin Keighley is all wrong for a proper young lady like Margaret Mayfield. Everyone knows he is shocking in his opinions, arrogant in his manner, and completely without respect for the common decencies of civilized society. Margaret absolutely will not marry him—no matter what her parents say.

Beautiful and Shy

Margaret was everything Sir Justin detested in a woman—timid, sheltered, and obedient to a fault. It’s not until she runs away from him that he finds he must give chase. Margaret is discovering she can be bold and rebellious— intrepid enough to do what she must, and more exciting than Justin ever imagined possible. She’s the last woman he would have expected to lead them both into uncharted territory…

Read an Excerpt

His hand moved involuntarily to cover hers on the table; he was entranced by the fire and spirit that illuminated her as she spoke.

Though she pretended not to notice, Margaret’s heart began to pound. “What a feeling it must be, to really help.”

“I have been told so.”

“But you have felt it. You have worked for the same cause.”

He shrugged. “With Members of Parliament, factory owners, the Prince. It is all talk and most often useless.”

“I don’t believe that for an instant.”

He smiled wryly. “Well, it is hardly as satisfying as what you propose.”

“Indeed not, and it must therefore be all the harder. I could never keep up such a thankless struggle, and I admire you for being able to. I daresay you will be the one who makes real reform possible one day.”

“We are working on a bill…” He broke off with a short laugh. “But you are merely being polite.”

“I am not! I do admire your work. It must require immense patience and will. You fight for what you believe in. What more could anyone do?”

His grip on her hand tightened, and his eyes showed a sudden vulnerability. It was seldom he heard words like these. Most of his acquaintances and even friends mocked or criticized his efforts.

“I only hope I can be like you,” she added.

“You exaggerate.”

“I don’t think so,” she said softly. She had seen the look in his eyes, and been deeply touched by it. “I think perhaps you are the most admirable man I know.” Slowly she stood and moved around the table, leaving her hand in his. When she stood beside him, she said, “Thank you for showing me…everything.”

He gazed up at her and, in one blinding instant, saw that what he had been fighting for the past week was not the mere influence of propinquity but something much stronger and more permanent. He also stood, towering over her. “You have shown me a good deal as well.”

Margaret smiled. “Have I? I can’t imagine what.”

“Can’t you?” He released her hand and slid his arms about her waist, unsure how she would respond. A tiny part of him shrilled one last warning, which he rejected with disdain. “Can’t you, indeed?”

Her heart beating wildly, Margaret put one hand on his upper arm, then the other. As he pulled her slowly closer to him she moved her hands up and around his neck. She was trembling. It was the oddest sensation to tilt her lips gradually toward his, both like and unlike the other time he had held her.

Sir Justin bent his head and kissed her, softly and lightly. His arms tightened, and he did it again, more passionately. Margaret, astonished by a flood of powerful new feelings, pressed her body against his. She felt as if her bones were melting. They kissed a third time, and Margaret’s last hesitancy disappeared in the heat of their embrace. Keighley’s hands wandered up her back and then down in a lingering caress, and with an answering passion.

At last he raised his head again and looked at her.

“Oh, my,” breathed Margaret.

He laughed. “May I take that as a favorable judgment?”

She nodded, wide-eyed. “It is just so new to me, you know.”

A flicker of concern passed over his face. “I should not have—”

“Can we try it again?” she interrupted, pulling a little at his neck.

He laughed again. “I doubt that that is wise.”

“Oh, wise.” Margaret was contemptuous. “All my life I did what was wise and proper. Until I met you, that is. I like the new way much better.”

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About Jane Ashford

Jane Ashford discovered Georgette Heyer in junior high school and was entranced by the glittering world and witty language of Regency England. That delight was part of what led her to study English literature and travel widely in Britain and Europe. Born in Ohio, she has lived in New York, Boston and LA, her writing life punctuated by breaks where the fates intervened and swept her off in different directions.

Jane has written historical and contemporary romances. Her books have been published in Sweden, Italy, England, Denmark, France, Russia, Latvia and Spain, as well as the U.S. She has been nominated for a Career Achievement Award by Romantic Times Magazine.

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