Beginning:
The Honorable Jeremy Malcolm, second son of the Earl of Kilbourne, was the biggest catch of the season the year of our Lord 1818. It was true he had no title of his own and was only a younger son, but his aunt of his mother's side had left him with the bulk of her sizeable fortune and a large country house in Kent.Friday 56:
"What is so amusing?" Malcolm asked her.
"I am sorry, but is that really how lovers speak to each other? It sounds like the most arrant nonsense. I do not think that I can say that sort of thing with a straight face."
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an arrogant bachelor insistent on a wife who meets the strictest of requirements--deserves his comeuppance.
The Honourable Mr. Jeremy Malcolm is searching for a wife, but not just any wife. As the target of matchmaking mothers and desperate debutantes, he's determined to avoid the fortune hunters and find a near-perfect woman, one who will meet the qualifications on his well-crafted list. But after years of searching, he's beginning to despair of ever finding this paragon. Until Selina Dalton arrives in town.
Selina, a vicar's daughter of limited means and a stranger to high society, is thrilled when her friend Julia Thistlewaite invites her to London, until she learns it's all part of a plot to exact revenge on Mr. Malcolm. Selina is reluctant to participate in Julia's scheme, especially after meeting the irresistible Mr. Malcolm, who appears to be very different from the arrogant scoundrel of Julia's description.
But when Mr. Malcolm begins judging Selina against his unattainable standards, Selina decides that she has some qualifications of her own. And if he is to meet them he must reveal the real man behind...Mr. Malcolm's List.
I hope you enjoy this one! Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteI love that opening sentence!
ReplyDeleteI was slow to get BBOF posted this week, so I added your post.