I travel. Sometimes I travel by boat, plane, or automobile. Sometimes I travel by book. Sometimes I explore the real world. This week I rambled to a small estate and textile mills in and around Glasgow and then on to London and the stifling townhouse of the vile Duke of Auchen with my fellow bluestocking, Elizabeth Ellen Carter. We even spent time at the duke’s country estate.
Along the way a fascinating array of facts fell into my lap: weaving technology, inventions, worker conditions, textiles, carriages, dressmaking… Even more delicious, we uncovered family secrets and well-intended deception. Ambition and dreams rode with us. You’ll want to read this one!
About the Book
William Musgrave, the Duke of Auchen, is dying. When he goes to his grave, he will take with him the opportunity to right a wrong that has left Lady Ruby McAllister impoverished.
Ruby has the contract that pledged her father a one-third share in a successful Scottish textile mill. But Auchen never made good on his promise before Ruby’s father died. Now Ruby has lost her beloved Strathaird, home to the McAllisters for centuries. Her only hope is to confront the duke before he dies. And her chance comes when a vacancy arises for a new night nurse in his London household.
Standing in her way is Seth Musgrave, the duke’s estranged son, who despises his father for deriding him as an imbecile. In truth, Seth is the driving force behind his father’s successful enterprise. William Musgrave has heeded no one in his life except for his wife. She died twenty years ago, but Ruby hears him call for her in his nightly delirium.
What if Ruby answered his call, pretending to be the only woman who could ever persuade the duke to do the right thing?
How long can Ruby keep her secret when Seth is trying to distract her with his kisses? And what if Seth learns the woman he’s falling in love with is deceiving the Duke?