Enchanting Ophelia

Book 0: Muses' Salon Series

by Rachael Miles

Genres: Action & Adventure Romance; Historical Romance; Regency Romance

Synopsis

NEWLYWED CHEER . . . Nothing is more romantic than being a newlywed during the holidays! And nothing is more festive than making Christmas plans with one’s beloved. But as Lady Ophelia is about to discover, even the best laid plans can go awry. And as she knows very well, when it comes to matters of the heart, that is sometimes the greatest gift of all. True love, after all, can be full of surprises . . . “Fans of Jo Beverly and Mary Jo Putney as well as all readers who value Regency-set romances that are expertly grounded in the era’s history will be delighted to discover the latest in Miles’ impeccably researched and beautifully crafted Muses’ Salon series!” —Booklist “Rachael Miles’ knowledge of the time period she writes about adds a depth of authenticity that enriches every page.” —Jodi Thomas, New York Times bestselling author

Release date: November 28, 2017

Publisher: Zebra Books

Print pages: 67

Sample

Chapter 1

“Judith proposes that we fill the twelve days of Christmas with a hunt.” Ophelia Mason sat in bed, a tray with correspondence on her lap and a heavy knit shawl around her shoulders. “She slipped a card under our door this morning.”

Sidney, her husband of only six months, sat on the floor in a state of undress, surrounded by a mess of his own making. In response to a dare from Ophelia’s sixteen-year-old brother, Tom, and her cousin Aidan, Sidney was making a kite. Before Ophelia had enticed him to bed the night before, he had already collected long strips of wood from the stable yard and fastened them into four rectangular frames. Now, with the remains of an old silk waistcoat and lengths of hemp twine, he was making the strips into a box. Ophelia watched his easy movements, his natural balance, loving him with every cell in her body. The decision to marry Sidney was perhaps her best, and after being his wife for six months, she had difficulty remembering why she had resisted for so long.

“A hunt?” Sidney balanced two frames between his knees as he reached for wire to tie them together. “In the middle of December? No self-respecting fox will leave his hole.”

“Just as no self-respecting MP would let himself be tricked into flying kites in a foot of snow?” Ophelia raised an eyebrow. She loved these moments, when Sidney hadn’t yet donned his waistcoat and cravat for a day of business or politics. Though he was always kindness itself, she especially relished the moments when Sidney—her passionate reformer—was hers alone.

“It’s not a trick. It’s a dare.” Sidney emphasized the word. “And no self-respecting MP can allow a dare to go unchallenged, especially when it is disguised as a scientific experiment. At any rate, I’ve read Benjamin Franklin’s observations on electricity very carefully. We will simply replicate his procedures.”

“Electricity can blast a hole in a man just as easily as in a tree, as that Swedish fellow Georg Richmann discovered.” At the thought of Sidney dead, Ophelia felt her stomach twist. She swallowed, then began again. “As I am too young to be a widow, Mr. Mason, I expect this experiment to end safely.”

“Sweet wife, now that I’ve succeeded in taking you to the altar, I have every intention of living a long life by your side. Besides, we will exercise all caution.” He held out a length of silk. “As long as we hold to the silk, not the hemp, we will be safe from the current.” Reading the concern on her face, he shifted his tone to teasing. “Besides, as you also investigate the natural sciences, you know the value of blowing things up.”

“That’s not a fair comparison.” Ophelia folded her arms against her chest, hiding her worry under the guise of defiance.

“I have a gardener’s shed in pieces and a case of new glass beakers on order for you. I think I might be allowed a bit of silk and a kite on the next rainy night.” He raised an eyebrow and wagged his ears. “Mightn’t I?”

“I concede.” Ophelia held up her hands before grudgingly adding, “But I must be present to observe that all the precautions are observed.”

“A fair request.” Sidney smiled, and Ophelia felt the warmth of it fill her chest and belly. “Which part of my argument was the most successful? The promotion of scientific experimentation or the reminder of the ruined shed?”

Ophelia tried not to smile in return but felt herself failing. “Neither. It was the supplies you have already bought me so I might blow more things up.”

“That’s good to know.” Sidney stretched, then returned to his task. “I’ll keep beakers on order for the rest of our marriage, if it means I win an argument or two.”

“How will you win the others?” She teased, watching as he tied one corner together, then the next, with crisp precise motions.

“With kisses, of course.” He met her eyes, then winked. “Now tell me about this hunt of Judith’s.”

“Well, I think it’s a hunt.” Ophelia grimaced at the card. “She’s written the invitation in a sort of rhyming doggerel. But the meter is uneven, and the rhymes are at best approximate. I could perhaps fix it if I replaced the word…”

“Ophelia, darling, it isn’t a puzzle for you to solve. Give me the gist of it.” He measured the distance between the top left and the bottom right corners with a piece of twine.

“I’d rather watch you work.” Ophelia set the tray aside and pushed the bedcovers back. “What are you doing with the twine?”

“I’m seeing if the rectangle is square. If the distance between both sets of opposite corners is the same, then the rectangle is square.” Sidney held out the twine to the second pair of corners. “And…it is not.”

“Have you considered ordering a kite from Mary Pearson’s lovely toy shop in Fleet Street? I imagine it will be weeks before we have enough rain and lightning to justify the experiment.”

“No, a man must make his own kites or pay the consequences when they don’t fly.”

Ophelia shifted her legs, uncovered, over the edge of the bed, and Sidney’s movements slowed. His eyes traced the line of her body, up from her ankle, to her knee, to the span of her hips, across the swell of her breasts, until his eyes met hers. She felt brazen under the attention of his gaze. She waited for a moment, watching him watching her until the air around them both felt charged with a different sort of electricity. Then, never letting her eyes leave his, she slid down the side of the high bed. The slide of her against the bed frame pulled up her shift, and Sidney watched as the shift rose higher and higher. It revealed only a glimpse of the curve and swell of her buttocks before her feet touched the floor, and the shift fell down, obscuring all.

Opheli. . .