Duchess of Moonlight by Sandra Sookoo

Author:Sandra Sookoo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Singular Sensation, Lake District, ghost, duchess, Bow Street, love at first sight, duke, intrigue, danger, haunted manor, Regency romance, historical romance, forced proximity, breast cancer
Publisher: New Independence Books
Published: 2023-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

Being here in this cozy hunting box with a fire and Emma had the potential to turn all too domestic. It both thrilled him and discomfited. Though he had always dreamed of belonging to a woman, of perhaps having a wife, love, a family, he feared he’d been alone for too long, perhaps couldn’t extend the trust needed for any of that.

Yet there was something about the duchess that compelled him to reveal all his secrets so he could quietly ask for her help.

For direction.

For acceptance and to overlook his failures.

But none of that would come from an unexpected coupling in an out of the way hunting box during a storm. What had begun as a way to comfort her and soothe her nerves from the thunder had quickly changed into something else, and nodcock that he was, some maggot had gotten into his brain that dangled those silly dreams before him like a carrot to a donkey. He wasn’t the kind of man who settled down, and he would certainly be an idiot to believe he could land a duchess. A woman used to the finer things in life. A woman who had powerful friends—at one time. A woman so far above him in society they would never have met in different circumstances.

“My last case revolved around the Duke of Lockwood and a woman who I thought had stolen an extremely valuable diamond brooch.” Unable to stand so close to her lest it would lead to something foolish on his part, Alex retrieved the basket with the last of the edibles. He took the earthenware bottle, uncorked it, and then brought the vessel to his lips. “I had been sent to investigate, of course, for the whole of Bow Street—my superiors included—assumed the young woman was guilty.”

“She wasn’t?”

“No, but I didn’t know that until later on.” Alex took a deep swig of the ale. Not even that could wash down the foul taste that lingered on his palate when he thought of that case. “She worked in her father’s bookshop where the bauble was found. A member of the peerage went to Bow Street, applied to the powers-that-be there to bring down God’s wrath on this woman.”

“I see.” Emma watched him with a frown as he paced while taking sips of the ale every once in a while. “Did you?”

He snorted. “I did what I’m good at—investigated. In the process I angered Lockwood, and might have accused him of buggering men.”

“Oh, dear.” Amusement sparkled in her eyes. “I remember a Duke of Lockwood vaguely from my time in London, but he was married.”

“The man I met was not. Much younger, but he ended up being sweet on the woman I was sent to arrest.” Alex shrugged. “In fact, he was married very recently.”

“Did you play in a part of that coming about?” One of her finely feathered blonde eyebrows lifted. “After all, you must have solved the mystery if there was a happy ending for Lockwood.”

Heat crept up the back of his neck.

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