An Affair Before Christmas PDF
Preview An Affair Before Christmas
Eloisa James An Affair Before Christmas This book is dedicated to Monsignor James Mahoney, who always celebrates romance as an expression of the deepest human love. And what’s more, he served as a model for the cover of The Taming of the Duke. Contents Thanks Prologue Ice hung from windowsills with a glitter that rivaled glass,… Chapter 1 “The Duchess of Fletcher,” the butler announced with a magnificent… Chapter 2 “What you need is a mistress. For Christ’s sake man,… Chapter 3 “What’s the matter with my party?” the Duchess of Beaumont… Chapter 4 Fletch knew exactly the type of woman he wanted to… Chapter 5 Jemma could feel a weight fall from her shoulders that… Chapter 6 All laughter disappeared, replaced by civil smiles and deep bows. Chapter 7 Poppy never used to cry before she became a duchess. Chapter 8 He interrupted her. “You used to call me Elijah in… Chapter 9 Fletch didn’t come home for hours. Supper passed, but Poppy… Chapter 10 The Duke of Villiers lay in bed. His shoulder burned … Chapter 11 “I have listened to you for years, Mama,” Poppy said… Chapter 12 “The only way to abate the fever is to bleed… Chapter 13 Fletch emerged from his carriage after spending a tedious afternoon… Chapter 14 The wig was damnably heavy, but no itchier than the… Chapter 15 Jemma was rereading The Noble Game of Chess when her… Chapter 16 It was the beginning of June; the Duke of Villiers… Chapter 17 Poppy wasn’t used to being angry. Now she had a… Chapter 18 Jemma was setting up the pieces, Beaumont opposite her. “I’m… Chapter 19 When Miss Charlotte Tatlock stopped to think about the last… Chapter 20 Poppy didn’t really expect Fletch to visit again, and he… Chapter 21 The Duke of Villiers opened the elegant piece of embossed… Chapter 22 Grudner’s Curiosity Shop was set well back from the street,… Chapter 23 Charlotte didn’t know what to make of the letter when… Chapter 24 Fletch couldn’t go home. In fact, he could never go… Chapter 25 The Duke of Villiers’s bedchamber looked like the back of… Chapter 26 She was a lovely woman. She was plumply curvy, with… Chapter 27 “You ought to be sorry,” Charlotte said, hiccupping. “You are… Chapter 28 The Royal Society met at Somerset House. Jemma and Poppy… Chapter 29 On close observation, Jemma discovered that Lord Strange was as… Chapter 30 The Duke of Villiers to Miss Charlotte Tatlock… Chapter 31 Fletch had taken a carriage into Hyde Park because he… Chapter 32 “I shall not go to Oxford,” Jemma explained, “because you… Chapter 33 The Ashmolean Museum was a bloody boring place full of… Chapter 34 Charlotte pulled out her Bible and sat down, trying to… Chapter 35 “Just what do you intend to do now?” Poppy was… Chapter 36 Jemma and her husband were nearing the end of their… Chapter 37 Fletch was afraid to turn around. It felt as if… Chapter 38 Fletch stayed downstairs while Poppy took her second bath, which… Chapter 39 It was only as Charlotte climbed out of the hackney… Chapter 40 Poppy came back from Oxford looking as odd as a… Chapter 41 “Are you all right, Your Grace?” Finchley asked for perhaps… Chapter 42 Beaumont’s country estate was near Sturminster Newton, in Dorset, at… Chapter 43 Poppy thought there was a chance—all right, a remote… Chapter 44 Charlotte was very disconcerted to find that she had arrived… Chapter 45 Fletch was in a state of repressed exuberance. Chapter 46 The idea that her mother had a lover was inconceivable. Chapter 47 Dying was not an easy business. Villiers pretty much thought… Chapter 48 Poppy wasn’t herself. She wasn’t the meek, silly daughter of… Chapter 49 “Christmas Eve night,” Villiers said. He could hardly hear his… Chapter 50 It was twilight, Christmas Eve night. The snow wasn’t howling… Chapter 51 Fletch was still a little red in the face, and … Chapter 52 “I don’t want to go outside. It’s cold. It’s Christmas… Chapter 53 When Villiers woke up, the bedroom was lit only … Chapter 54 Poppy woke up blinking because the bedchamber was full of… Chapter 55 “Not one of these costumes is particularly interesting,” the Duke… Epilogue It was Christmas, and a small girl was singing rather… A Note on Georgian Curiosities, Including Hair About the Author Praise Other Books by Eloisa James Copyright About the Publisher Thanks With a thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to the usual suspects: my brilliant editor, Carrie Feron; my organized and imaginative assistant, Kim Castillo; and my erudite research assistant, Franzeca Drouin. I couldn’t do it without you all! The character of Mrs. Patton was inspired by Ann Rosamond, who would have made a terrific Georgian lady!
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