Ripe for Pleasure

Ripe for Pleasure By Isobel Carr



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS



As implied in the dedication, I owe my friend Karin Tabke a huge debt of gratitude. Without Karin, this book wouldn’t exist. She’s the best non-agent a girl could have. I would also like to thank Jami Alden for being the best beta reader on the planet, and Jessica Cohen for brainstorming fantabulousness and always being available for cocktails and plotting. My San Francisco support network—Monica McCarty, Bella Andre, Carolyn Jewel, Poppy Reiffin, Veronica Wolff, Ann Mallory—as always, you ladies rock! Also, my fellow bloggers over at History Hoydens. For long-distance help and support, they’re irreplaceable. My friends, whom I’ve largely deserted over the past year, know how much their support has meant. I owe more than I can say to my sister, Siobhan, for all the dog sitting it took to keep my mastiff Clancy happy and healthy while I worked. I’d also like to thank my team of “Alexes”: my agent, Alexandra Machinist, and my editor, Alex Logan. Fantastic, insightful, supportive superheroines, both of them. A writer couldn’t ask for a better team.



PROLOGUE   



There are three private gentlemen’s clubs on St. James’s Street in London, each with its own rules and regulations governing membership. They are filled each day with peers who can’t be bothered to attend to their duties in the House of Lords, let alone what they owe to their estates and family. Their ranks are frequently swelled by the addition of their firstborn sons, who gamble away their youth and fortunes while waiting for their fathers to die. What’s less commonly known is that there is also one secret society, whose membership spans all three: The League of Second Sons.

Their charter reads:

We are MPs and Diplomats, Sailors and Curates, Barristers and Explorers, Adventurers and Soldiers. Our Fathers and Brothers may rule the World, but We run it. For this Service to God, Country, and Family, We will have Our Due.

Formed this day, 17 May 1755, All Members to Swear to Aid their Fellows in their Endeavors, Accompany them on their Quests, and Promote their Causes where they be Just.

Addendum, 14 April 1756. Any rotter who outlives his elder brother to become heir apparent to a duke is hereby expelled.

Addendum, 15 Sept 1768. All younger brothers to be admitted without prejudice in favor of the second.