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Against her white skin Miss Fairmont’s blue eyes were as brilliant as sapphires.
‘Is it beyond your imagination that some actresses might not want a coronet? I am one of them. I answer to the stage, not to any duke.’
‘Come, come,’ he said. ‘You’re indulging in play-acting now.’
Her eyes snapped blue fire. ‘You seem to think being a titled wife is such a prize. Why, I’d rather be a mistress than a wife to an aristocrat like you.’
‘My mistress?’ He raised a brow. ‘At least you’ve made your price clear.’
‘You’re twisting my words,’ she said through pinched lips. ‘I merely mean to say that being a duke’s wife is not what every actress wants.’
I’ve always applauded the daring of great actresses of the past. Historically, ladies of the stage were considered not much better than ladies of the night. For centuries being an actress was a scandalous if not dangerous profession, and the most an actress might expect was to become a wealthy man’s mistress. But in the nineteenth century this began to change. My interest was piqued when I discovered that a so-called ‘epidemic’ of actresses married into the aristocracy. The theatre became a marriage market as well as a playhouse.
Playing the Duke’s Mistress is set in the theatrical world of Victorian London in the mid-nineteenth century. At that time many actresses were labelled title-hunters or worse—as Darius Carlyle, Duke of Albury, initially suspects actress Calista Fairmont to be. Yet not every actress wants a coronet …
Happy reading!
Playing the Duke’s Mistress
Eliza Redgold
ELIZA REDGOLD is an author, academic and unashamed romantic. She was born in Scotland, is married to an Englishman, and currently lives in Australia. She loves to share stories with readers! Get in touch with Eliza via Twitter: @ElizaRedgold, on Facebook: facebook.com/ElizaRedgoldAuthor and Pinterest: pinterest.com/elizaredgold. Or visit her at goodreads.com/author/show/7086012.Eliza_Redgold and elizaredgold.com.
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For my muse, Nell Gwynne.
If she’d learnt to write she’d have penned a witty play.
And for my long-time friend Erika Jacobson, playwright and fellow PhD finisher, who loves Nell too.
My thanks go first to my fabulous editor, Nicola Caws at Harlequin Mills & Boon in London, who brought this book into being. Thank you, Nicola, for your patience, tact, insight and for your brilliant editing skills.
You are amazing!
Thanks to the Wordwrights critique group for their comments on early chapters and to my critique partner Jenny Schwartz, who calls a plot a plot—writing would be no fun without our beachside café meetings. I’d also like to express my gratitude to the romance writing community, at home and abroad, for their warmth and generosity.
Thanks also to my academic colleagues, including those in the emerging field of ‘Love Studies’.
Finally, thank you to all the romance readers worldwide who keep the dream alive. Long live love!
Contents
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
Historical Note