Surrender To A Scoundrel (25 page)

B
y the late Victorian period, the town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight was well established as a fashionable seaside resort for high society, and is still pop u lar today for its international sailing events and those interested in its colorful history. It’s a picturesque town with narrow, winding streets and charming shops, and is home to residents who are more than happy to talk about its history with inquisitive visitors.

One of the significant points of Cowes’s history involves the America’s Cup, which is the oldest and most distinguished trophy in all sport. Its name comes from the yacht
America
, which won a prestigious international race hosted by the Royal
Yacht Squadron in Cowes 1851. The course went around the Isle of Wight, and the
America
crossed the finish line first, timed at eight hours and thirty-seven minutes, though there was some controversy over whether or not she properly rounded all the marks on the course. The committee officials deemed that the instructions were vague, however, and the cup was proudly taken back to the New York Yacht Club. It remained in the United States for 132 years until 1983, when an Australian boat won the race for the first time.

At the time this book is set, the Royal Yacht Squadron was enjoying its heyday during an era often referred to as the Golden Age of Cowes. In the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, the Cowes Regatta in August was attended by royals and aristocrats from En gland and abroad, and that week in particular inspired many of my ideas for the race week in this book.

In reality, the commodore of the Squadron was not my fictional character, Sir Lyndon Wadsworth, but rather Edward, the Prince of Wales, who was elected to the position in 1882. He was a passionate yachtsman with his own racing yacht, the
Britannia
, which he commissioned in 1892 and sailed triumphantly in many prestigious races. (I took some artistic license in mentioning the cutter throughout this book, which is set the year before.)

If you’re interested in reading about Cowes and
its fascinating yachting history during the Edwardian period, I highly recommend the book
Sacred Cowes
, by Anthony Heckstall-Smith, who was born on the Isle of Wight and became a yachting journalist. I borrowed a few anecdotes from his book, such as the amusing reference to Queen Victoria watching her son’s yacht through a telescope from her summer home on the hill. That summer home was Osborne House, a magnificent country estate that still stands today and is open to the public as a museum.

I hope you enjoyed Martin’s story, and if you’re interested in reading more about Sophia and James, you can read about their romance in one of my earlier novels,
To Marry the Duke,
which is set during the time Martin is suspended from Eton. It’s the first book in my American Heiress series, and Sophia’s sister Clara has a story as well. Hers is
An Affair Most Wicked,
the second book in the series.

For more information about my other books, visit my website at
www.juliannemaclean.com,
where you can enter my monthly contest or send me a letter via e-mail. I love to hear from readers.

Best wishes,
Julianne

M
any thanks to my great friends, Lorraine and Stewart Creaser, for taking me sailing, sharing your passion for the sea, and for reading this manuscript in its earliest stages. Thank you also to the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada for all your support, especially the gals on the goals loop. Kelly Boyce and Pam Callow—you both came through for me at the last minute to read the manuscript. You are wonderful friends. As always, thank you Paige Wheeler, my agent who I love more and more with each passing year. Erika Tsang, my new editor at Avon, for your wise editing, and to the entire staff at Avon—thank you for everything you do. Finally, thank you to my
cousin and best friend, Michelle Phillips, for the skillful critiques and moral support. To my husband, Stephen, who is the best man a woman could ever dream of marrying, and my daughter, Laura, who keeps me happily entertained with basketball and tickling by the minute. Go set the timer, sweetie
.

J
ULIANNE
M
AC
L
EAN
fell in love with some of the classic romances—
Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights
, and
Pride and Prejudice
—while completing her degree in English literature. Then she decided that she needed a "real job," but after a brief stint as a government auditor, she realized she just didn't care enough about numbers matching up. So a month before her wedding, she sat down and wrote the first paragraph of a romance. Now fourteen years, a husband, and a daughter later, Julianne is a happy, fulfilled, stay-at-home mom and a devoted romance writer.

Julianne would love to hear from readers and can be reached via e-mail through her website at
www.juliannemaclean.com
or by regular mail:
c/o Avon Books
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SURRENDER TO A SCOUNDREL
. Copyright © 2007 by Julianne MacLean. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Microsoft Reader December 2006 ISBN 978-0-06124851-1

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