By Mary Jo
I shamelessly begged for an advance reading copy of Jo Beverley's new book, Too Dangerous for a Lady. It's a great read, with romance, suspense, and even medical matters of the time. Not only is the story a Romantic Times Top Pick (along with new books from Wenches Patricia Rice and Cara Elliott), but it received a wonderful review in Publisher's Weekly: "Beverley's brilliantly drawn protagonists shine in a story that puts equal emphasis on intrigue and love."
Too Dangerous is set in Jo's long-running Regency Rogues World. There's more about the Rogues here.
MJP: Jo, is it true that the Rogues are the longest-running series of Regency heroes?
JB: As best I can tell. The first book came out in 1991, which means 24 years. The characters have covered three years in fifteen books.
MJP: How do Mark and Hermione fit into the Rogues World?
JB: I completed the stories of the 10 surviving members of the Company of Rogues in To Rescue a Rogue, but I've written spin-off characters along the way. Two years ago I was considering a few characters who are waiting in the wings, but then some of my readers asked about the families of the two dead Rogues. When I wrote the first book, set in 1814, it seemed unlikely that out of twelve young men none had died in the ongoing war, so I killed off two. We authors are so carelessly cruel.
Cue Lady Hermione Merryhew, sister of Lord Roger Merryhew. Roger joined the army and was killed in Spain. His older brother has since died so the family title, Marquess of Carsheld, has gone to a distant relative.
Despite the grand title there's never been much money so when there's a chance of a fortune from a long-lost relative, Hermione pursues it. She's on her way to a death bed, in the company of her sister and Polly's family, when a scruffy rascal seeks refuge in her inn bedroom. That leads to the danger, the romance, and eventually to an encounter with the Company of Rogues.
What amused me was that when Nicholas Delaney, the leader of the Rogues, turns up to help Hermione, she's never heard of him. Previously in the Rogues books friends and family have heard about the Rogues, sometimes to the point of exasperation, but Roger pretty well ignored his kid sisters. Hermione is Not Amused to have a stranger turn up to take charge. Here's a bit of the scene.
Hermione is in London by this point, seeking a cure for her elderly relative, who is suffering from a tropical disease. She's heard of a lecture given to a group called the Curious Creatures and has tried to make contact. A gentleman arrives.
“Mr. Delaney, thank you for coming. Won’t you be seated?” She took her chair near the fire and he sat in the one opposite.
“I could hardly resist,” he said with a smile. “Being a curious creature.”
His manner unsettled her. It seemed overly familiar. She wasn’t accustomed to being nervous in men’s company, but she was glad her maid was present as chaperone. “You’re a member, sir?” she asked.
“Founding member. I happened to be in Town, so Tenby of the Green Man sent to me to deal with what he saw as a troubling enquiry.”
“Troubling?”
“We do have women in the Curious Creatures, but not many, so he thinks of it as a gentlemen’s club. An enquiry from a lady—in both meanings of the word—alarmed him. No matter. How may I help you?”
He seemed to have settled to a more normal manner, so she relaxed.
(She explains the situation.)
Delaney lit with sparkling curiosity. “Intriguing. Perhaps you’d allow me to make enquiries for you—being a Curious Creature of some expertise.”
His light manner made her uncertain again, but she needed help, especially from one who knew London. “Thank you, sir. That’s very generous.”
“On the contrary, it’s obligatory. You don’t recognize my name, do you?”
Clearly she should. Hampshire? Yorkshire? “My apologies, sir . . .”
“I was at school with your brother Roger.”
“Oh. That was some time ago, and Roger is dead.”
“Yes, I know. I wrote to your parents, though it was delayed, as I was abroad in 1810.”
He remembered the date. “You were good friends? I was five years younger than he, so I don’t know much about his school days.”
“We were good friends,” he agreed. “We were part of a group who called themselves the Company of Rogues.”
Willy-nilly Hermione is swept into the Rogues and soon finds herself installed in a duke's house and preparing to attend a grand entertainment, but her preoccupations are her great-uncle's health and the safety of the scruffy invader she's come to love.
MJP: The story is set in 1817, which is a troubled time. Could you describe some of the social problems of that period?
JB: The end of war is often a difficult time, even for the victorious. War is expensive and the debts need to be paid. After Waterloo there were additional problems. The unnatural stimulus to industry stopped at the same time that cheap imports became available. This all led to unemployment, low wages, and unrest, as it does in all times and places, including today.
Desperate people gathered to make their voices heard. Reformers made stirring speeches. Men set off to march to London, not with any violent intent, but to try to make clear how bad their situation was. However, there were some orators who would harangue a mob to break open gunsmiths to steal weapons, and handbills urging the slaughter of the government and the royal family.
1817 is only a generation away from the French Revolution (Jane Austen had a relative whose husband had died on the guillotine) so many were terrified by all this and the government brought in new laws and imposed severe penalties, but that often made matters worse.
Many people were torn as to which side to support. They wanted help for the distressed poor, but wanted law and order as well.
Too Dangerous for a Lady isn't about the social turmoil, but the hero's French mother was traumatized by the Revolution and he's determined never to let anything like that happen in England.
MJP: Ah, yes. That's how Mark and Hermione meet at the beginning of the book.
JB: Or meet again. Mark's now Lord Faringay, but when he left the army he went undercover as Ned Granger to infiltrate a particularly dangerous group. He's evading detection and death when he slips into Hermione's bedroom.
“Am I allowed to stay?” he asked.
“No.”
“I won’t harm any of you.”
“Why should I believe that?”
“For no reason at all.”
Even so, her instincts said he was safe, which was ridiculous, except . . . Dear Lord, could it be . . . ?
“You could tie me up,” he said.
She started. “What?”
“If you tied me to that wooden chair, you’d all be safe and you could sleep.”
Still distracted, Hermione could hardly make sense of his words. “You imagine I travel with rope in my valise?”
“Stockings would do.”
“You’re deranged.”
“Not at all. Think about it.”
But instead she was thinking that he just might be, could possibly be, the dashing dance partner, the man who’d almost given her her first kiss, the soldier she’d never been able to forget. Thayne. Lieutenant Thayne. She’d never known his first name. How had he sunk to such a state?
One thing was clear. If there was any chance of that, she couldn’t eject him to possible death.
That's her big mistake. Except, of course, that it sets her on the path to true love and a happy ending. As the step-back says, "Nothing's too dangerous for a woman in love."
Here's one more taste. He's invaded her room again, but this time in her great-uncle's house, where they've truly explored their feeling and shared truths.
A log collapsed in the grate, bringing them back to reality.
The fire would soon be out. How long had they been here, illicitly alone and intimate, lost in passion, longing, and whimsy?
He stood, straightening his clothing, but then he looked at her. “My Hermione, relaxed in the glow of firelight, disordered and dangerous to all my righteous intentions.”
She should have straightened, stood up, and perhaps even protested, but she could only smile back at him, so handsome and strong in the dying light, despite his scruffy trimmings.
He knelt by the sofa to kiss her. “I want to stay here with you more than I’ve wanted anything in my life.”
So tempting to grasp him and hold him. Instead she smiled. “One day you will.”
One day, if it was within her power, a fireside conversation and kisses sweet and spicy would lead in due course to a lawful bed and thence to heaven.
“You truly must go to London?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Into danger?”
“Perhaps.”
"I wish I could give you a talisman.”
“You already did.” He rose and took a bit of dirty white out of his pocket. She recognized the silk rose.
“You kept it,” she said, and tears threatened.
“Treasured it. It’s sadly battered and grimy, but it’s kept me safe.”
“Then don’t lose it.” She reached into a pocket and took out a brass button. “I still have this.”
“Polished, even.”
“Of course.”
“I’d kiss you again if I dared."
MJP: You gave Mark an intriguing friend with great hero potential! Will we be seeing more of Beau Braydon?
JB: Definitely! I didn't bring him in to be a hero -- I simply needed some help for Mark at that point -- but he was instantly a distinctive character. He, too, was in the army, but he's been an elegant dresser since his schooldays, hence "Beau." Despite that, he proved useful to Mark in all kinds of ways, including tracking down villains and disposing of dead bodies.
He's a town man, son of a government official, born and raised in London. Now, thanks to a rich uncle and Mark's introduction to anti-terrorism work, he pretty well has the life he wants -- until he inherits a title. What? Live in the country? Manage property? Deal with interfering neighbors and rural politics? There's only one thing for it. The Viscount Need a Wife. I'm writing that book now, and it will be out next April.
A copy of Too Dangerous for a Lady will be given to one commenter between now and Tuesday midnight, so comment away!
MJP: Thanks so much for telling us about the book, Jo. Now I'm waiting for Beau Braydon!