Diana Adores the Puzzled Duke
Hanna Hamilton
Chapter 1
R obert Donnelly, the thirty-year-old Earl of Donnelly, was seated at his desk staring out his library window across the splendid parkland of his estate. It was a blustery early March day, and there were small whitecaps on the lake embraced by walls of maple and beech forest on either side .
It is good. It is really good . Robert thought as he put his hand on The Adventures of Hudson Harding, his first work of fiction which he had just finished writing .
He let out a sigh of satisfaction and stood, walked over to the French doors leading out to the terrace, and watched the scuttling clouds cast fleeting shadows across the broad expanse of lawn and garden leading up to the lake .
Robert was a tall broad-shouldered man who one might mistake for a laborer with his wide chest and sturdy legs. But his face was refined and noble looking with his surprisingly handsome blue eyes and black, well-groomed hair. He dressed like the gentleman he was, and many in the county of Cambridgeshire were surprised he remained unmarried at his age with so many eligible young aristocratic maidens paraded before him by his older sister, Amelia, who lived with him at Balfour Hall —the family seat .
And while his sister was insistent on the need for a Donnelly male child, today Robert’s thoughts were on his first literary child. Any moment now he expected the arrival of his dear friend, Sir Cecil Hancock—perhaps the most renowned London publisher of quality fiction .
The estate’s wealth came from London income properties long held by the Earls of Donnelly. And Robert decided to review the statements from his agents in London who managed the properties while he awaited Sir Cecil’s arrival .
Shortly thereafter, there was a knock at the library door and Sithens, the Balfour Hall butler, entered .
“Your Lordship, Sir Cecil Hancock has just arrived and begs to be admitted .”
“Show him in, please,” Robert replied .
Sir Cecil was a man in his early sixties—red faced, balding, and looked as though he might be suffering from gout by the way he walked unsteadily and supported himself with a cane .
“Robert…” Sir Cecil, said breezily as he hobbled across the room and took hold of Robert’s hand. “It has been far too long. When were you last in London ?”
“Several months at least.” He clapped Cecil on the shoulder and asked. “Whiskey? Sherry? Tea? What shall it be, old man ?”
Cecil gave a nod. “Would not say no to a dram or two of your finest single malt .”
Robert turned to Sithens and nodded. “Make that two,” he instructed. Sithens went to the sideboard and prepared the drinks as Robert invited Cecil to sit with him by the fireplace where a cheerful fire was keeping the cold at bay .
“Now then, Robert, what is so pressing that I needed to take a day from my busy schedule to meet with you all the way up here in the wilds of Cambridge ?
Robert laughed slightly. “I’ve written a cracking good book and I want you to publish it .”
Cecil seemed taken aback. “A book? What kind of a book ?”
“After my travels to the Americas, I decided to write about my adventures. It’s a romantic adventure novel. Set in the American west and in the South American Amazon. I think you will find it to be a strapping good tale, my friend. How soon can you publish it ?”
“Wait… wait… Is it a history of your travels or is it a novel ?”
“You might say it’s a bit of both. My hero—not me—meets a charming lady and… well… it becomes a romance you see .”
Cecil was silent as he sipped his whiskey and digested what Robert had just told him. Finally, he looked up and said, “I am sincerely sorry, Robert, but it would be most unwise for you to publish such a work under your own name .”
“Why ever not?” Robert asked sternly as he stood and towered over Cecil .
Cecil seemed to be uncomfortable and shifted in his chair .
“Robert, you cannot be that na?ve. Surely you know that other than scholarly works and sermons--and maybe, in a reach, a book of travel and exploration--a gentleman of your stature cannot conceivably publish a work of romance. There is a terrible stigma attached to anyone of your class stooping to the level of writing fiction. You would be laughed out of the House of Lords, not to mention ridiculed by the critics and press, and most likely excommunicated from the Church of England .
“Oh, Cecil, that cannot be. Certainly, you exaggerate,” Robert insisted .
“Well, maybe about excommunication. But I most certainly do not exaggerate about the rest. Remember the scandal that pursued from the publication of the Duke of Bedford’s ill-advised novel, The Trials of Cybil, several years ago ?”
“Hmm. I might remember something like that.” Robert began to pace in front of the fire .
“I know it seems extreme and unfair, but what you want to do is just not done .”
Robert turned and faced Cecil. “But, certainly, in this progressive day and age of eighteen hundred and seventy-two, such conventions must be ripe for a challenge, do you not think ?”
Cecil held out his glass to Sithens to be topped up. “I wish I could say otherwise, but, my dear friend, if I were to publish a novel under your name, I’m afraid you would find yourself severely shunned by most of your class. Not to mention scaring off potential brides. And I do not say that lightly .”
Sithens returned with the whiskey .
“And then there is how that might affect our publishing house. Not only would reviewers refuse to review my books, but I might well lose some of my most prestigious authors .”
“Then let me publish under an assumed name,” Robert suggested .
“I wish it were that easy, old friend. But if we were to publish under an unknown name, hardly any reviewers would look at the book, and the sales would be so small as to be almost negligible. And I am sure you do not want that .”
Robert began pacing again and took another whiskey .
“But certainly you do take on new unknown authors from time to time. Is that not true ?”
“That is true, but often they have created a reputation by being published in magazines and journals and by giving public lectures and readings. They have a following long before we publish them .”
Robert went to his desk and picked up his manuscript, bringing it over to where Cecil was still seated .
“At least take a look at it… please. Perhaps if you like it enough, you might figure out a way to get around this absurd impediment .”
Cecil sighed as he took the manuscript .
“Very well, I will take a read of it… for the sake of our friendship .”
*
R obert had taken the train to London and was in the palatial offices of Hancock and Puntley House Publishers two weeks after his meeting with Cecil at Balfour .
Just yesterday he’d received a letter from Cecil .