Setting: Regency England 1817, the industrial revolution, and returning soldiers with no employment set the scene for political turmoil.
Her Grace, the Duchess, former Samantha Winston, as a young widow, permits His Grace, the Duke of Ravensmere, to seek refuge in her carriage in a time of need, and what starts out as a kiss in the name of safety, becomes pleasurable and not safe at all. In spite of every caution, her interest escalates into unexpected and welcomed desire.
His Grace, Raven, Tenth Duke of Ravensmere, reclusive, politically powerful, denies love after the tragic deaths of his duchess and baby son. Bound by a deathbed promise made ten years prior, he vowed never to allow love to enter his heart again. And then he met the lovely, high-spirited, irreverent and beautiful Samantha.
When a high-spirited woman disrupts the routine of a duke who follows the rules, sparks sizzle and planets collide…the duchess laughs when she hears this tagline.
Author: What is your main fear, Duchess?
Answer: Having been on the shelf, so to speak, I feared to fall in love again passionately as I did with my late husband, Percival, whom I adored as a little girl. My brother’s best friend was over the house all the time, and I soon was the pest he liked. As I grew older and prettier, he grew so handsome. Our friends said we were over the moon with each other, but little did they know that Percival neglected to inform me of his malady—impotence! You can imagine my empty bed on my wedding night while he gambled the night away. Two weeks later he was killed by footpads who robbed him. I then became an unconsummated widow. Of course, the duke never became aware of this circumstance until it was too late.
Author: Can you tell me more about the circumstance?
Answer: You were the one who concocted the scene, but I’ll relive the events for our readers. After the stunning revelation from my new husband, and after his death, I built walls around me. I have been known to have wit, high spirit, and an interest in politics. The latter was a definite negative when seeking a new relationship. I vowed I’d never let any man dupe me again. I wanted to sample the masculinity before I committed again. You made me outrageous.
When Raven and I first met in the carriage, I felt a jolt of desire in his kiss. He was grateful for my assistance in the carriage against the anarchists. When we met at the ball, I raised my walls even higher by challenging his goals and motivations. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t a ninny hammer, but I went too far. I believe in the aftermath one of his comments was: “One could say that to be called old, egotistical, a coward and an over-aged schoolboy in the same two minutes of conversation is a novelty for me. Tell me, did I miss any other affront to my dignity?” He controlled his tone but kept it superior. “Yes. I also said you suffered from vanity.” As I look back on it now, I did shock him. He made a reference that he’d find me a soap box to lecture from in Hyde Park. My offense was deliberate, but I regretted doing so.
Author: Did the duke ever speak to you again?
Answer: Not for an hour or two, but he did present himself for a waltz upon which we agreed before the entire hullabaloo. I remember it well. We floated on air, and the chemistry between us regained its intensity. I apologized, a difficult act for me, but I was too strong in my comments. After the waltz, we sat and talked and that was when he won my heart with his tale of loss. To endure such grief at the loss of wife and child endeared me to him. I felt even worse for my actions. I concluded that he could be a man of significance. He was fearless. I was interested.
Author: Did you encounter him again?
Answer: At the end of the evening, I bid him, Au Revoir, and I’m sure it jogged his memory. My brother had invited him for lunch the next day. So, yes, we were thrown together once again but the atmosphere heated, not in anger, but we ‘played’ with each other in double entendres and all sorts of mischievous romantic intentions. Then he created a scandal.
Author: Tell me, duchess, what scandal. It sounds delicious.
Answer: It was. From our conversations, Raven knew I was afraid that at the lunch auction of my charity that some rake might bid for two hours of my time. Such a worthy cause. At the event, imagine my horror that one rogue bid a high amount. I was terrified. The duke matched that sum with the pastor conducting the sale, by five pounds each time. When the sum got to five hundred pounds, every participant was stunned into silence to know the outcome. The pressman reported it in every gossip trades paper the next day.
Author: Tell us more. I’m on pins and needles.
Answer: Since you created me, you know how unfair you were. However, the duke bid the astronomical sum of one thousand pounds. The rake capitulated. The crowd cheered, and my duke took me to a private table where we ate lunch and took a long walk.
Author: You called him ‘your duke?’
Answer: Not to his face. He was romantically aggressive, and I was a willing student. Being grateful, I allowed him another kiss. In fact, there were a few. There were many. His strong, masculine body pinned me against a tree where no one could see me. He set me afire, a sensation new to me. In between kisses, there was the sensual banter and wit. I remember raking my hands through his hair. He whispered things I’d never heard in referring to my lust-swollen lips. You wrote: “Energized blood coursed through my body igniting every part, awakening my dormant soul with the promise of all he might do.” It becomes obvious his manly parts worked.
Author: And then what happened?
Answer: As you well know, over the course of the next days and weeks, he did quite a bit.
Author: Did you allow him to do other things?
Answer: Your readers will have to read the book. This interview has become too risqué, and I’m sure Raven will think me indiscreet. Needless to say, your book is about a May-December relationship, filled not only with the romance aspects, but also, suspense, intrigue, international skullduggery, an attempted assassination, and glorious sex. I was determined to seduce him as I mentioned before…to sample the wares.
Author: And?
Answer: They were more than acceptable. Now you have delved too far, and I must conclude this interview. I hope your next heroine is different from mine. Good evening.
Answer: Decidedly so. It took me seven years to edit this too long epic story but demanded a reader audience. I’m delighted you are still happily in love.
Author: Do you have any other comments?
Answer: Mistress Masters, I can’t believe I did and said many of the things you wrote. You took great liberties with my persona in our book. You brought me out of the darkness of my personal life and gave me the desire to live and love again. There were those who never would believe me capable of such passionate utterings. They used to speak of me as the spinster. The truth of the matter was that my heart needed rescuing and my duke did an adequate job. You caused me great angst, pain, and suffering over many chapters thinking I could lose him, but then I might not have appreciated Raven and all his qualities: magical and otherwise. He was so ready to be loved.
Author: For our readers’ sake, I’d like to say I had so many favorite phrases as compared to my other books. My most favorite was when you asked him, “But what would I have to do?” He answered, “I leave that to your resourcefulness…and mine…under a starlit night with nothing but our naked imaginations.”
Answer: Yes, I do remember thinking: His nearness too intimate; his touch too hot; his desire too obvious. Hmm. I do believe I should see about the whereabouts of my duke. He may want to play. Good night, again.
Author: Samantha: Before you go, have you ever noticed your first name is close to mine? That our personalities are somewhat alike? Oh, she’s left the room. We’ll never know.
SANDRA MASTERS
http://www.authorsandramasters.com
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