For his part, Edmond is amused to find himself tête-à-tête with the very intelligent, very proper Lady Mornington-until the thunderstorm propels her even closer than that.ĭell, ISBN 9780440245476 The Notorious Rake When this one breaks overhead, she behaves with Edmond in a manner that will come back to haunt her through the rest of the book.

Mary had a close brush with death during a thunderstorm when she was bivouacking in a tent with her late husband during the Peninsular Wars, and now she has a blind terror of storms. She is further annoyed when she is more or less trapped into taking a stroll alone with him-just as a thunderstorm is looming. She goes to Vauxhall Gardens with friends one evening, hoping to lighten her mood, but is severely annoyed to discover that The Notorious Rake, Lord Edmond Waite, is also a member of the party. Mary Gregg, the widowed Lady Mornington, is feeling depressed at the loss of her close friendship with the Earl of Clifton after he has reunited with his estranged wife.

This is a double love story, the one light and humorous, the other far more deeply and darkly passionate. Sophia’s determination not to allow her feelings to be become involved with Francis seems just as doomed to failure, and Francis is very largely to blame. The Earl and Countess of Clifton, who parted after a bitter quarrel fourteen years earlier, react just as Sophia hoped they would, though their reunion is not without its bitter and passionate outbursts and shows little sign of being a permanent one. Lord Francis, always up for a lark, is quite willing to be a party to the deceit. Lady Sophia Bryant gives in to the suggestion of her friends that she engage in A Counterfeit Betrothal with the witty, roguish Lord Francis Sutton in the hope that her long-estranged parents will take alarm and unite to put an end to her engagement.

The Notorious Rake by Mary Balogh