Grace Eversleigh knows she owes her eternal gratitude to
the Dowager Duchess of Wyndham, who offered her a position
as companion after her parents died and left her
impoverished. The Dowager believes in the rigid social
order of God, King and Duke with everyone else subservient.
She frequently reminds Grace of her lowly position with
demands that demonstrate her power. The Dowager's world
turns upside down when a highwayman sets upon their
carriage. She recognizes the leader as the spitting image
of her late son. The glib bandit acknowledges the
possibility, but thwarts the Dowager when he turns his
attention to Grace. Grace receives her first kiss and loses
her heart to the charming rogue.
Captain Jack Audley, recently discharged from the Army,
embraces his new career as a highwayman. He prefers to
think of himself as the new Robin Hood. After robbing the
Wyndham coach, Jack is forced to confront his past and face
the unbelievable fact that he could be the Duke of Wyndham.
His new families consist of his grandmother, the
disagreeable and arrogant Dowager and his shocked cousin,
Thomas. Jack's world will undergo major upheavals while
Thomas' world plummets. Since birth, Thomas has been taught
his responsibilities to the title. His whole identity is
tied to the title.
Grace places herself between Thomas and Jack trying to
placate the high emotional turmoil. The Dowager with her
biting and snide remarks to Thomas keeps the tension high.
Grace's heart nearly breaks as she falls in love with Jack
knowing he must marry Amelia Willoughby who was contracted
at birth to marry the future Duke of Wyndham.
I do not think it is possible for Ms. Quinn to write a bad
story. She always entertains with tales that overflow with
wit, drama and sparkling repartee. In an unusual twist, Ms.
Quinn has written Thomas' point of view of the tale in MR.
CAVENDISH, I PRESUME, coming in October. The stories were
written simultaneously for accuracy.
Will the Real Duke of Wyndham Please Stand Up?
Jack Audley has been a highwayman. A soldier. And he has
always been a rogue. What he is not, and never wanted to
be, is a peer of the realm, responsible for an ancient
heritage and the livelihood of hundreds. But when he is
recognized as the long-lost son of the House of Wyndham,
his carefree life is over. And if his birth proves to be
legitimate, then he will find himself with the one title he
never wanted: Duke of Wyndham.
Grace Eversleigh has spent the last five years toiling as
the companion to the dowager Duchess of Wyndham. It is a
thankless job, with very little break from the routine...
until Jack Audley lands in her life, all rakish smiles and
debonair charm. He is not a man who takes no for an answer,
and when she is in his arms, she's not a woman who wants to
say no. But if he is the true duke, then he is the one man
she can never have...