Historical
Writing Girl Romance, Book 3 - The Tattooed Duke
By Dottie
Feb 18, 2012 - 6:55:57 PM

Miss Eliza Fielding, the daughter of an actress and a playwright, was one of the four Writing Girls at the London Weekly newspaper, but she has not had anything published lately. In the past, she has written some great articles. Whenever there was some injustice to be exposed, she was ready to tackle it. Having a natural curiosity, she would fully immerse herself in a story, putting herself, body and soul, on the line for the paper. But she is no longer inspired. She has one more chance to keep from losing her job…a job she enjoys and is determined to hold onto. She has been given the task of writing about the Duke of Wycliff, who has been abroad for the past ten years. There have been many rumors spread about him and it is up to her to expose every secret he has. To accomplish this, she manages to get hired on, with references from two fellow Writing Girls, Countess Roxbury and the Duchess of Brandon, as one of the duke’s housemaids. Getting hired on is even easier because no one dares to seek employment with the scandalous Wycliff.

Sebastian Digby, the new Duke of Wycliff, was one of the Wicked Wycliffs, known for being an undisciplined lot. Having inherited his mother’s rigid self- control, it clashed with his Wycliff blood. Instead of feeling fortunate to be a duke, he believed it was more like a burden than a blessing. The previous duke had left debts that Sebastian would have to pay. Sebastian also had no plans of getting himself shackled into marriage. While in England, he had other plans; to plan and seek funding for the expedition of a lifetime, before he set sail once more. He’d dreamed of leading a proper expedition and being the first European to go to Timbuktu and back. He wanted to accomplish something on his own that had nothing to do with the circumstances of his birth.

Throughout the conversation during his talkative cousin Basil’s visit, Sebastian could not help noticing the curious housemaid, who was obviously eavesdropping. So far the blue-eyed, saucy housemaid was the only thing of interest he had found in England. But it was only after the maid left the room that Sebastian unlocked and opened the door that led to a room cut off from the rest of the house, as this was where he kept those things he wished to keep secret.

Eliza made a strange housemaid as she had never learned to be subservient. Walking in on an unclothed duke, Eliza could not stop from staring at his strange markings, which he called tattoos. Overlooking common sense and better judgment when satisfying her curiosity, especially when investigating a story, Eliza was caught examining his tattoos when another maid, Jenny, came into the room. This was fortunate for Eliza as she did not know where her exploration would have led her. Now if she could only figure out what he hid in his secret room.