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    Maid for Scandal: A Regency Novelette
    Maid for Scandal: A Regency Novelette
    Maid for Scandal: A Regency Novelette
    Ebook54 pages45 minutes

    Maid for Scandal: A Regency Novelette

    By Anthea Lawson

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    About this ebook

    A light Regency story that skirts the edge of impropriety...

    Miss Anna Harcourt foolishly disguises herself as a maid to be near the man she thinks she loves, but little does she know how far this charade will lead her ... or how close to ruin.

    Sensuality level: MEDIUM WARM - suggestive situations, kisses.
    This Regency novelette by RITA-nominated author Anthea Lawson is 14,000 words (45 p)

    *Note* This story is also included in Anthea's Kisses and Rogues anthology of four regency stories & novellas
    .
    Anthea Lawson, named "a new star of Historical Romance" by Booklist, has won readers with her combination of spicy love scenes and elegant prose. Her first novel, PASSIONATE, was a Best First Book finalist in the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA awards.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFiddlehead Press
    Release dateSep 29, 2011
    ISBN9781466017320
    Maid for Scandal: A Regency Novelette

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      Book preview

      Maid for Scandal - Anthea Lawson

      MAID FOR SCANDAL

      A Spicy Regency Short Story

      By Anthea Lawson

      Smashwords Edition copyright 2011 Anthea Lawson.

      This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the vendor and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text, please contact the author at anthea@anthealawson.com.

      All characters in this story are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.

      COVER: Photo image by Lev Olkha, via Fotolia. Used with licensed permission.

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Anthea Lawson lives in the Pacific Northwest. Discover more by visiting anthealawson.com. Stop by and leave a comment!

      QUALITY CONTROL: Anthea cares about producing error-free books. If you find a typo or formatting problem, please contact her at anthea@anthealawson.com so it can be corrected.

      MAID FOR SCANDAL

      It was a splendid idea—or had seemed so at the time. Impersonate a maid in order to be close to Giles Wildering for two glorious weeks. How daring!

      Anna Harcourt frowned at the pail of soapy water in front of her and resisted the urge to fling her scrub-brush down the hall. The very long hall, patterned in black and white marble, and exceedingly uncomfortable on her knees. The hall which she was now responsible for scrubbing to a flawless shine.

      When she first conceived of the disguise, it had seemed perfect. The family of her best friend, Belinda Caswell, owned a nearby estate. She would pretend to be staying with the Caswells, while secretly masquerading as a maid at the Wildering’s mansion. Belinda was delighted to help Anna with her deception.

      It’s like something from a novel! Belinda had said as they laid their plans.

      Besides, it was the only way Anna could see Giles—he of the bright blue eyes and flattering words. Just think, to breathe the same air, to see him on a daily basis and let the fresh bud of their new love come to full flower. She had no doubt she would end the summer transformed, no longer inexperienced Anna Harcourt, but a true lady, known by the name of Mrs. Giles Wildering.

      She had thought that, as soon as she arrived, Giles would somehow feel it in the air. He would come and sweep her off her feet, and…. Well, in truth, her imagination had not carried her much beyond arriving at Wildering Hall.

      Unfortunately, there were a number of practicalities she had failed to take into account. First, she’d no idea how much the utter drudgery of servant’s work would keep her away from the house’s grander inhabitants. Secondly, as the most junior member of the staff, she was allotted the worst of tasks. And thirdly, perhaps most horribly, she had to rise at an excruciating hour, when the light of dawn was only a pale thought in the sky.

      No one to gently open her curtains after nine-o-clock, or bring her a pot of hot chocolate. No one to stir up her coals and make sure her dressing-gown was laid out. Instead, a bowl of porridge and a scrub-brush had ushered her into her first day as a maid.

      Stop your daydreaming, and get to work! Mrs. Foutch, the housekeeper, marched to where Anna knelt. "The family will wake in one hour, and this hallway had better be spotless. Spotless and dry."

      Yes, ma’am. Anna mumbled the words, trying not to sound like a governess-educated London miss.

      Lady Caswell recommended you—though I don’t know what her ladyship was thinking. The housekeeper sniffed, as if the gentry were wholly inscrutable. Well then. When you’ve finished, I’ll be in the blue parlor.

      Without waiting for a reply, Mrs. Foutch turned away, the clack of her boot-heels reproachful. Anna sighed and dipped her brush into the water. The housekeeper

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