The Spinster Chronicles Book Seven REBECCA CONNOLLY Also by Rebecca Connolly The Arrangements: An Arrangement of Sorts Married to the Marquess Secrets of a Spinster The Dangers of Doing Good The Burdens of a Bachelor A Bride Worth Taking A Wager Worth Making A Gerrard Family Christmas The London League: The Lady and the Gent A Rogue About Town A Tip of the Cap By Hook or by Rook Fall from Trace To Sketch a Sphinx The Spinster Chronicles: The Merry Lives of Spinsters The Spinster and I Spinster and Spice My Fair Spinster God Rest Ye Merry Spinster What a Spinster Wants Also from Phase Publishing Emily Daniels: Devlin’s Daughter Lucia’s Lament A Song for a Soldier Grace Donovan: Saint’s Ride Laura Beers: Saving Shadow A Peculiar Courtship To Love a Spy Tiffany Dominguez: The Eidolon Ferrell Hornsby: If We’re Breathing, We’re Serving Text copyright © 2020 by Rebecca Connolly Cover art copyright © 2020 by Rebecca Connolly Cover art by Tugboat Design http://www.tugboatdesign.net All rights reserved. Published by Phase Publishing, LLC. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Phase Publishing, LLC first ebook edition November 2020 ISBN 978-1-952103-18-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2020920155 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file. Acknowledgements For Carly, who is growing into a beautiful, intelligent, independent, and creative young woman. I am so proud of you and can’t wait to see the magic you work on the world. Carve your place and own your space! And keep fostering your love of books, from one dedicated bookworm to another. And to chocolate chips. You make everything better. Everything. Thanks to the Phase Publishing team for letting me toss in a random series about spinsters in my publishing lineup and for loving them as much as I do. Thanks to Deborah at Tugboat Design for knowing exactly what I want before I know it, and whose artistry gave the Spinsters life. Thanks to Heather and Jen for being my sounding boards, even though I kind of held you hostage about it. Thanks to the readers, who love these ladies and their adventures, and have made this so worthwhile. Special thanks to the Spinsters themselves. That day in the Cheesecake Factory when you all sprang into my mind and demanded your own series was one of the greatest days in my career. Thank you for the ride. It’s been very sweet. Want to hear about future releases and upcoming events for Rebecca Connolly? Sign up for the monthly Wit and Whimsy at: www.rebeccaconnolly.com Index Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four 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 Epilogue Prologue London, 1815 “Capital idea! I wish I’d thought of it, but I am never the genesis of good ideas. Still, I will die on the battlefield for your idea, see if I don’t.” “I don’t imagine we will be facing any battlefields in this…” Charlotte Wright looked at her friend Georgiana Allen as though the girl were a simpleton, which she might actually have been. Could she really not see that, in doing this, they would be waging a war? “What do you think a ballroom is but a battlefield?” Charlotte sputtered, reaching for the fresh cup of tea that sweet Isabella Lambert had made for her. “Do we not gird ourselves with armor before we go in?” Izzy wrinkled up her nose as she handed Georgie her tea. “I’ve never considered silk or muslin to be armor myself.” Georgie snickered a laugh while Charlotte gave the best soul in the room a dark look. “No, because you are the nicest creature in any ballroom at any given time, so why would you? Everyone is good and kind and has the very best intentions. You don’t need armor, Izzy, you’re immortal.” “Impervious, too, apparently.” Charlotte ignored this comment and returned her attention to the more fallible of the two. “I can assure you that Society as a whole will rise up in arms against us. Spinsters not particularly caring that they are so? And speaking about it? It will upset the entire balance. I cannot wait to begin.” Georgie looked troubled for the first time. “I don’t mean for us to incite a rebellion or to recruit followers…” “We are hardly Jacobins,” Charlotte retorted without shame. “Don’t look so scandalized. I only mean that it will be quite a noise we create, and it will make such a difference to the other young ladies of Society.” “That is what we hope for,” Izzy assured her, her relief evident. “After what poor Elizabeth Daniels suffered…” Charlotte waved a dismissive hand, cutting her friend off. “Elizabeth was a fool, and that is a rather common predicament. We most certainly have something to say about that, do we not?” She quirked her brows, taking a long and silent sip of her tea. “Now, what does Emma have to say about this, hmm?” Emma Asheley was Georgie’s other half, in many respects, though the same could have been said for Izzy, as her cousin, and it was generally known that Emma and Georgie were approaching the actual spinsterdom shelf. Society had written them off despite the lack of an actual discriminating age. Apparently, it was behavior more than a number with regards to their marriageable state. Izzy, on the other hand, was the sweetest creature Charlotte had ever met, but it was clear she would follow in the same course as the other two. Already spinsters and not yet decrepit or faded, Society said. It was not fair, but it was the truth where those three ladies were concerned. They were also some of Charlotte’s oldest friends. Charlotte was, of course, of a similar age with the lot of them, but there was one particular difference that kept her
