Seduced by a Rogue (48 page)
“My good-father has accused me so often that I’ve almost come to believe him,” she said glibly. “That is the real reason he
invited you here. He wants to know the truth before he dies, so he can hang whoever is guilty.”
“I can understand him wanting that, aye,” he said, nodding.
“He will appreciate such easy understanding on your part, I’m sure. But mayhap, before you tell
him
as much, you should know one thing more.” Pausing, she added, “I overheard him telling his man that he also suspects you,
my lord.”
Where authors give you the inside scoop!
From the desk of Susan Crandall
Dear Reader,
After a good friend of mine finished reading one of my suspense novels, she asked my husband how he could sleep next to me
at night, knowing how my mind works. After I’d given her a good dose of stink-eye, I really started thinking. Not about how
dangerous it is for my dear husband–although that could probably be debated. Many of us do it every night without pause, but
think about how much trust it takes between two people to fall into innocent, blissful, and completely defenseless sleep next
to that other person.
But more important to this book is the question: When in our lives are we more vulnerable than when we’re sleeping? I mean,
it starts when we’re children with the monster in the closet or the bogeyman under the bed. And for sleepwalkers, that vulnerability
multiplies exponentially; their fears are real and wellfounded, not imaginary.
Think about it. You go to bed. Fall asleep… and never know what you might do during those sleeping hours. Eat everything in
your refrigerator? Leave the house? Set a fire? It would be horrifying. Even worse, you will have absolutely no recollection
of your actions.
As they say, “From tiny acorns mighty oaks do grow.” The disturbing vulnerability induced by sleepwalking was the seed that
grew into SLEEP NO MORE.
As for my husband…the poor man continues to slumber innocently next to me while my mind buzzes with things to keep the rest
of you awake at night.
Please visit my Web site,
www.susancrandall.net
, for updates and extras you won’t find between the covers.
Yours,
From the desk of Sherrill Bodine
Darling Reader,
You know I can’t resist sharing delicious secrets about some of Chicago’s best stories!
When I discovered that my friend, the curator of costumes at the history museum, was poisoned by a black Dior evening gown
(don’t worry–he’s perfectly well!) and that it happened at a top secret fall-out shelter that houses some of the most treasured
gowns in Chicago’s history, I knew I had to tell the tale in A BLACK TIE AFFAIR.
After all, what could be more irresistible than a time-warp fantasy place that houses row after row of priceless gowns that
were once worn by Bertha Palmer, the real-life legendary leader of Chicago’s social scene?
For those of you who may not be familiar with her, Bertha leveraged her social standing and family fortune to improve lives
and to champion women’s rights. So I thought, how perfect it would be if her gowns helped the women of Chicago once again,
and one woman in particular!
It wasn’t long before my heroine, Athena Smith, was born. I gave her two fabulous sisters who are just as devoted to fashion
as Athena is–and, of course, as I am–and I determined that a couture gown would change her life forever. One of Bertha’s gowns
would poison Athena, just as that Dior had poisoned my friend, and that would throw her back into the arms of her first love,
notorious bachelor Drew Clayworth. Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of this story because, as we all know, the
course of true love never does run smooth.
Find out what other surprises and tributes to my beloved Chicago I have in store for you in A BLACK TIE AFFAIR. And never
forget that I love giving you a peek beneath society’s glitter into its heart. Please tell me your secrets when you visit
me at
www.sherrillbodine.com.
Xo
From the desk of Amanda Scott
Dear Reader,
What sort of conflict between the heads of two powerful Scottish clans might have persuaded Robert Maxwell of Trailinghail
to abduct Lady Mairi Dunwythie of Annandale, the heiress daughter of a baron who defied certain demands made by Maxwell that
he believed were unwarranted? Next, having abducted the lady, what does Robert do when Lord Dunwythie still refuses to submit?
And why on earth does Mairi, abducted and imprisoned by Robert, not only fall in love with him but later–long after she is
safe and a powerful baroness in her own right–decide that she wants to marry him?
These are just a few of the challenging questions that faced me when I accepted an invitation to consider writing the “true”
fourteenth-century story of Mairi Dunwythie and Robert Maxwell–now titled SEDUCED BY A ROGUE.
The invitation also came in the form of a question–a much simpler one: Would I be interested in the story of a woman who had
nearly begun a clan war?
Since authors are always looking for new material, I promptly answered yes.
A friend had found an unpublished manuscript, dated April 16, 1544, and written in broad Scotch by “Lady Maxwell.” Broad Scotch
is a language I do not know.
Fortunately, my friend does.
Lady Maxwell related details of how two fourteenthcentury Dunwythie sisters met and married their husbands. (“Dunwythie” is
the fourteenth-century spelling for Dinwiddie, Dunwoodie, and similar Scottish surnames.) SEDUCED BY A ROGUE is the story
of the elder sister, Mairi.
Relying on details passed down in Maxwell anecdotes over a period of two hundred years, Lady Maxwell portrayed that clan favorably
and Mairi’s father as a scoundrel. The trouble, her ladyship wrote, was all Lord Dunwythie’s fault.
So the challenge for me was to figure out the Dunwythies’ side of things and what lay at the center of the conflict. That
proved to be a fascinating puzzle.
Her ladyship provided few specifics, but the dispute clearly concerned land. The Maxwells thought they owned or controlled
that land. Dunwythie disagreed.
The Maxwell who had claimed ownership (or threatened to take ownership) was just a Maxwell, not a lord or a knight. However,
Dunwythie was Lord Dunwythie of Dunwythie, and that Annandale estate stayed in Dunwythie hands for nearly two hundred years
longer. In the fourteenth century, landowners were knights, barons, or earls–or they were royal. So, clearly, Dunwythie owned
the land.
Next, I discovered that the Maxwells were then the hereditary sheriffs of Dumfries. Sheriffs (“shirereeves”) were enormously
powerful in both Scotland and England, because they administered whole counties (shires), collected taxes, and held their
own courts of law. The fact that Annandale lies within Dumfriesshire was a key to what most likely happened between the Dunwythies
and the Maxwells.
The result is the trilogy that began with TAMED BY A LAIRD (January 2009) and continues now with SEDUCED BY A ROGUE. It will
end with TEMPTED BY A WARRIOR (January 2010).
I hope you enjoy all of them. In the meantime,
Suas Alba!
