Lord of Scoundrels (1995) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

• Jessica Trent: A young lady; Plans to support herself by opening an antique shop. She comes to Paris after being alerted of her brother's spending ways.
• Sebastian Ballister, Marquess of Dain: He has a hard reputation, precipitated by a sad upbringing
• Bertram Trent: Jessica's brother and a bit of a fop
• Dominick: Charity Graves' son
• Esmond: One of Dain's friends who is interested in Beaumont's wife. He's blonde, blue-eyed and beautiful.
• Roland Vawtry: One in Dain's circle who is deeply in debt.
• Genevieve, Lady Pembury: Jessica and Bertram's grandmother; considered femme fatale in her time
• Francis Beaumont: One of Dain's circle who is interested in Esmond. He's shrewd and not to be trusted as he likes to play one against another.
• Leila Beaumont: Francis Beaumont's wife
• Vere Mallory, Duke of Ainswood: Schoolmate of Dain's at Eton.
• Phelps: Coachman at Athcourt
• Bridget: Jessica's personal maid
• Champtois: Owner of the jewelry store where Lord Dain first meets Jessica
• Andrews: Dain's valet
• Susannah: Eldest sister of Dain's Eton schoolmate (Wardell)
• Sherburne: One of Dain's circle who is disrespectful to his new wife
• Malcolm Goodridge: One in Dain's circle
• Mr. Herriard: Attorney hired by Jessica
• Mrs. Ingleby: Housekeeper at Athcourt in Devon
• Louisa: Jessica's aunt who suffers from a lack of taste
• Joseph: First footman at Athcourt
• Rodstock: Steward at Athcourt in Devon
• Withers: Bertram's manservant

Quotes edit see section history

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• “I particularly recommend that you resist the temptation to count if you are contemplating a gift for your chere amie. Women deal in a higher mathematical realm than men, especially when it comes to gifts.”

  Lord Dain

• “That, Bertie, is a consequence of the feminine brain having reached a more advanced state of development.She recognizes that the selection of a gift requires the balancing of a profoundly complicated moral, psychological, aesthetic, and sentimental equation. I should not recommend that a mere male attempt to involve himself in the delicate process of balancing it, especially by the primitive method of counting.”

  Jessica

• “She held up her fan in front of his face, to display the masculine scribbling upon the sticks. " Look carefully", she said. " Do you see 'Beelzeb' written there?"”

  Miss Jessica

• “I pay a whore a few coins. She gives me exactly what I require. And when it’s done, it’s done. Since the world seems to be in no danger of running out of whores, why should I go to what we all know is excessive bother for the other sort?”

  Lord Dain

• “I’m sorry I tarnished your reputation. But I didn’t do it all by myself. You could have ignored me. You certainly didn’t have to come tonight. Still, all you have to do now is laugh and walk away, and they’ll see I mean nothing to you, and they had it all wrong.”

  Jessica

• “I must be besotted. I have the imbecilic idea that you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. Except for your coiffure.That is ghastly.”

  Lord Dain

• “She had merely reminded herself that many men couldn't see themselves clearly. When Bertie, for instance, looked into a mirror, he thought a man with a brain looked back.”

  Jessica

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow.

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• “Pardon one offense,” Publilius had said, “and you encourage the commission of many.”

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• “There is no animal more invincible than a woman,” Aristophanes had said, “nor fire either, nor any wildcat so ruthless.”

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• “Women don’t have a sense of humor,” Bertie said. “They don’t need one. The Almighty made them as a permanent joke on men. From which one may logically deduce that the Almighty is a female.”

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• “In my dictionary, romance is not maudlin, treacly sentiment,” she said. “It is a curry, spiced with excitement and humor and a healthy dollop of cynicism.”

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• Publilius Syrus. “‘Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.’”

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• “Women do not lie, my lord Dain,” came a faintly accented voice from the door. “It merely seems so because they exist in another reality.”

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• Sognavo di te. I’ve dreamed of you. Ti desideravo nelle mia braccia dal primo momento che ti vedi. I’ve wanted you in my arms since the moment I met you. He stood, helpless in the driving rain, unable to rule his needy mouth, his restless hands, while, within, his heart beat out the mortifying truth. Ho bisogno di te. I need you.

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• “Make money, money by fair means if you can, if not, by any means money.”

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• “Ti ho voluto dal primo momento che ti vedi.” I’ve wanted you from the first moment I saw you. “Mi tormenti ancora.” You’ve tormented me ever since.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Paris: Where our story begins. Both Lord Dain and Jessica were living here when they met.
• Athcourt: Dain's estate in Devon, England
• Eton: Where Dane went to school

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by The Lion's Daughter, and followed by The Last Hellion.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Loretta Chase (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• RITA Award (1996: Best Short Historical)
• RT Reviewers' Choice Award (1995: Regency Historical Romance, Winner)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Sexual content.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Romance › Authors, A-Z › ( C ) › Chase, Loretta
• Books › Romance › Historical
• Books › Literature & Fiction

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Loretta Chase: Author's website

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history