The Rake's Redemption. Regina Scott
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London’s Most Notorious Scoundrel
Even infamous duelist and poet Vaughn Everard has qualms about dragging an innocent lady into his quest for revenge. But Imogene Devary is the daughter of the man suspected of murdering Vaughn’s uncle. Surely that makes her fair game
in order to uncover the truth!
Can the man who writes such moving verse be beyond redemption? Imogene can’t believe so. In taming Vaughn’s heart and healing the rift between their families, she’s sure she’s found her calling. Then his mission to unmask a killer reveals a terrifying plot. Only together can they safeguard his legacy, their newfound love...and England’s very future.
“My father seems quite vexed with you,”
Imogene whispered, trying to focus on her goal while her fingers kept moving over the keys of the piano. “Do you know why that might be?”
“I have never done anything to offend him,” Vaughn murmured back. “Why would he take me in dislike?”
She wished she knew. Vaughn Everard seemed the perfect fellow: clever, talented, handsome, charming. How could anyone take him in dislike? Certainly dislike was the farthest thing from her mind. “There’s some problem.”
“Can you arrange a meeting?”
“He’s so busy. I can’t be sure of catching him.”
“But won’t you try, for me?”
Her mother rose from her seat, wandered closer, eyes narrowing. Vaughn straightened.
“And now, the crescendo,” Imogene proclaimed, throwing herself into the music. She finished the piece with a flourish, and Vaughn Everard joined her mother in applause. But his head was cocked, his dark gaze on her as if he hadn’t truly seen her before.
About the Author
REGINA SCOTT started writing novels in the third grade. Thankfully for literature as we know it, she didn’t actually sell her first novel until she had learned a bit more about writing. Since her first book was published in 1998, her stories have traveled the globe, with translations in many languages including Dutch, German, Italian and Portuguese.
She and her husband of over twenty years reside in southeast Washington State. Regina Scott is a decent fencer; owns a historical costume collection that takes up over a third of her large closet; and is an active member of the Church of the Nazarene. Her friends and church family know that if you want something organized, you call Regina. You can find her online blogging at www.nineteenteen.blogspot.com. Learn more about her at www.reginascott.com.
The Rake’s Redemption
Regina Scott
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
—Romans 8:28
To the heroes who leap without looking, trusting
in their skills and their Lord, especially Larry
and Edward; and to the Lord, who loves me
even when I look twice.
Contents
Chapter One
London, England, spring 1805
Where was he?
Lady Imogene Devary stood at the edge of the crowded ballroom, up on the toes of her white kid evening slippers. She hadn’t even had a chance to dance, yet her heart was pounding in her satin-covered chest, and she could barely catch her breath.
Where was he, the stranger who had appeared at her door the past three days? Her father, Lord Widmore, had refused to see him each time, most recently so loudly the miniature of her little brother had clattered against the wall. Why did the stranger so concern him?
She peered about, twisting this way and that. The sounds of the ball brushed against her: the rise and fall of a hundred conversations, the strains of a string quartet, the dull thump of slippered pumps on hardwood and the laughter of flirtation. The Mayweathers had rented the prestigious Elysium Assembly Rooms for their annual ball. A dozen fluted columns marched down the center in Grecian elegance, and two crystal chandeliers hung from the gilded, domed ceiling above. Ladies in satins and velvets