Dangerous to Know Read online

  Dangerous to Know

  Jane Austen's Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues

  Joana Starnes

  Katie Oliver

  Beau North

  Lona Manning

  Brooke West

  Karen M Cox

  Christina Morland

  Jenetta James

  Sophia Rose

  J. Marie Croft

  Amy D’Orazio

  Edited by

  Christina Boyd

  Contents

  Foreword

  I. Willoughby’s Crossroads (moderate) Joana Starnes

  1. WILLOUGHBY’S CROSSROADS

  II. A Wicked Game (mature) Katie Oliver

  2. A WICKED GAME

  III. Fitzwilliam’s Folly (mild) Beau North

  3. FITZWILLIAM’S FOLLY

  IV. The Address of a Frenchwoman (mild) Lona Manning

  4. THE ADDRESS OF A FRENCHWOMAN

  V. Last Letter from Mansfield (mature) Brooke West

  5. LAST LETTER TO MANSFIELD (Moderate)

  VI. An Honest Man (moderate) Karen M Cox

  6. AN HONEST MAN (Mild)

  VII. One Fair Claim (none) Christina Morland

  7. ONE FAIR CLAIM

  VIII. The Lost Chapter in the Life of William Elliot (moderate) Jenetta James

  8. THE LOST CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF WILLIAM ELLIOT (Moderate)

  IX. As Much as He Can (none) Sophia Rose

  9. AS MUCH AS HE CAN

  X. The Art of Sinking (none) J. Marie Croft

  10. THE ART OF SINKING

  XI. For Mischief’s Sake (none) Amy D’Orazio

  11. FOR MISCHIEF’S SAKE

  Acknowledgements

  Mature Content Guidelines as per Editor

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DANGEROUS TO KNOW:

  JANE AUSTEN’S RAKES & GENTLEMEN ROGUES

  Copyright © 2017 by The Quill Ink

  Cover and internal design © 2017 The Quill Ink, L.L.C.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any format whatsoever. For more information: The Quill Ink, P.O. Box 11, Custer WA 98240

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017956681

  ISBN: 978-0-9986540-1-0

  Cover design and Layout by Shari Ryan of MadHat Books

  Praise for the Authors

  CHRISTINA BOYD

  The Darcy Monologues, “…the best thing about this book, it doesn’t ruin the characters. It doesn’t make Darcy into someone else.”

  Silver Petticoat Review

  KAREN M COX

  1932, “A sexy and exciting story, 1932 is a truly fresh take on this timeless tale.”

  Bustle

  Find Wonder in All Things, “…no wonder at all why it was awarded the Gold Medal in the Romance category at the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards.”

  Austenprose

  At the Edge of the Sea, “…intoxicating and heartfelt romance … Readers will be entertained and inspired by this winning tale.”

  Publishers Weekly

  Undeceived, “Love it when an author can surprise me.”

  Delighted Reader

  The Journey Home, “...a beautifully written story about second chances.”

  Just Jane 1813

  I Could Write a Book, “...with eloquent style, grace, and insight Karen Cox has proven, one again, she can indeed ‘write a book!’”

  Austenesque Reviews

  J. MARIE CROFT

  Love at First Slight, “There was not a single thing I did not like about this novel. … The author’s sharp wit could rival that of Jane Austen … a pure delight to read.”

  Addicted to Austen

  Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge, "Hilarious, enjoyable, witty, laugh-out-loud book!"

  LEATHERBOUND REVIEWS

  A Little Whimsical in His Civilities, “If there’s an Austen hero that deserves a good chuckle at himself, I can think of none other more deserving than the proud and staid Mr. Darcy. Ms. Croft helps him loosen up his cravat in a manner that is playful, poetic and utterly romantic.”

  Just Jane 1813

  AMY D’ORAZIO

  The Best Part of Love, “...reels with intense drama and is so emotionally charged.”

  Readers’ Favorite

  JENETTA JAMES

  Suddenly Mrs. Darcy “…a touching, sometimes dark, often playfully sexy interpretation of what might have been…”

  Jane Austen’s Regency World Magazine

  The Elizabeth Papers, “…a novel that will appeal to fans of Jane Austen and romantic mysteries.”

  Publishers Weekly

  LONA MANNING

  A Contrary Wind: A Variation on Mansfield Park, “Many try to emulate Austen; not all succeed. Here, Manning triumphs.”

  BlueInk Review Starred Review

  CHRISTINA MORLAND

  This Disconcerting Happiness: A Pride and Prejudice Variation, “Their love affair is a thing of beauty, I sometimes felt I was intruding—but I would have loved to intrude for another 500 pages!”

  Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer

  A Remedy Against Sin: A Pride and Prejudice Variation, “One of my favorite novels!”

  Of Pens and Pages

  BEAU NORTH

  Longbourn’s Songbird, “North gives a voice to a whole new demographic of characters and expertly navigates the social confines of conservative Southern expectations of the times.”

  San Francisco Book Review

  The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy, “I absolutely adored this novel from the first page…one of the best books I’ve read this year, possibly one of my all-time favorites…”

  Diary of an Eccentric

  Modern Love, “...a love story that cuts through to the heart of what we’re looking for as we futilely swipe right—someone who knows us, all the parts of us, and loves us all the more for it.”

  Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly

  KATIE OLIVER

  Prada and Prejudice, “...light, frothy, sexy, funny as hell”

  Susan Buchanan, author of The Christmas Spirit

  Love and Liability, “...the characters [are] BRILLIANTLY written and complex, the plot engaging and interesting."

  I Heart Chick Lit

  The Trouble with Emma, "A wonderfully witty take on an Austen classic"

  The Lit Buzz

  Who Needs Mr. Willoughby? “...another entertaining, well-written modern retelling of an Austen classic”

  A Spoonful of Happy Endings

  What Would Lizzy Bennet Do? “Katie Oliver's delivered a fun, romantic and definitely sparkly book."

  Sparkly Word

  SOPHIA ROSE

  Sun-kissed: Effusions of Summer (Second Chances), “A truly beautiful and compelling romance!”

  Austenesque Reviews

  JOANA STARNES

  From This Day Forward, “A beautiful love story…that any Janeite purist should enjoy.”

  More Agreeably Engaged

  The Second Chance, “I was completely swept up by this evocative and gripping variation!”

  Austenesque Reviews

  The Subsequent Proposal, “I love it when Austen-inspired fiction shakes things up a bit, and Starnes certainly does that!”

  Diary of an Eccentric

  The Falmouth Connection, “Joana Starnes writes with great verve and affection about the familiar characters — and an intriguing cast of unfamiliar ones.”

  Jane Austen’s Regency World Magazine

  The Unthinkable Triangle, “…full of feeling…a book full of soul.”

>   From Pemberley to Milton

  Miss Darcy’s Companion, “Beautiful, rather clever and shocking…”

  Obsessed with Mr. Darcy

  Mr. Bennet’s Dutiful Daughter, “‘She did it again,’ I told myself as I savored the feelings whirling around inside of me.”

  Just Jane 1813

  BROOKE WEST

  The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy, “...well-written prose with perfect balance between heart-breaking intense scenes and humorous passages...”

  From Pemberley to Milton

  Foreword

  By Claudine diMuzio Pepe

  —Claudine DiMuzio Pepe

  Just Jane 1813

  JASNA NY Metro, Regional Coordinator

  “I am proud to say that I have a very good eye at an Adultress,”

  Jane Austen in a letter to her sister, Cassandra, 12 May 1801.

  Jane Austen knew not only how to spot an adulteress, she adeptly—and cleverly—wrote about them too. Her books are filled with rakes, rattles, and rogues who made sport of toying with ladies’ hearts all over Regency England.

  * * *

  As one who proudly admits harboring her own soft spot for John Willoughby, I have often imagined that was part of Austen's design in creating his character. While she herself did not condone adultery or the scandalous behaviors that many of her contemporaries engaged in, she undoubtedly knew there must be at least two sides to every story as she wrote complex characters comprised of a multitude of traits, adding color and depth to her narratives. Her protagonists undoubtedly benefitted from her skilled hand, even allowing readers to empathize on some level with even her less-than-noble gentlemen. And yet, she does not fully sketch out her secondary or tertiary characters, leaving much to the reader’s imagination in regard to how each became the rake or gentleman rogue in her novels.

  * * *

  The Elizabethan period witnessed the emergence of the English rogue in fiction, when rogues were considered different from the outlaws of the Medieval Period. Unlike the outlaw, the rogue was not part of any criminal underworld, but instead, symbolized a figure that remained a part of normal society, while simultaneously believing that there was no issue with breaking the law. Perhaps we might acquit ourselves of harboring any affections for Austen’s bad boys after all.

  * * *

  Jane Austen even encountered gentlemen rogues in publishing. I was astounded to learn that she self-published three of four books during her lifetime. She received her first contract with a publisher for Susan, much later posthumously published as Northanger Abbey. However, that publisher did nothing with the book but allow dust to collect, and when she applied to have the rights revert to her, she was told that she must return the original ten-pound payment. At that time, she did not undertake the loss. How remarkable that two hundred years after her death, her likeness would appear on the ten-pound note!

  * * *

  “Mr. Murray’s letter is come. He is a rogue, of course, but a civil one. He offers £450 but wants to have the copyright of ‘Mansfield Park’ and ‘Sense and Sensibility’ included. It will end in my publishing for myself, I daresay. He sends more praise, however, than I expected.”

  —LETTER FROM JANE AUSTEN, TO HER SISTER, CASSANDRA, DURING HER NEGOTIATIONS TO HAVE MURRAY PUBLISH EMMA.

  Jane Austen certainly must have known of a few rakes as her stories demonstrated her tremendous talent for crafting some of the most intriguing in English literature. From her first to her last published work, her canon contains several unsuitable gentlemen—Henry Crawford, George Wickham, Captain Tilney, et al. Like Miss Marianne’s attentions to Willoughby, Austen’s genius quickly draws us in with but a line:

  “Her imagination was busy, her reflections were pleasant, and the pain of a sprained ankle was disregarded.”

  —SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, CHAPTER IX.

  * * *

  But what of John Willoughby’s story before he met Marianne Dashwood? How did he become “involved” with Eliza Williams, Colonel Brandon’s ward? What were his intentions towards Marianne from the very beginnings of their tempestuous relationship? My questions did not stop there either as I then began to think about Austen’s other rakes’ and rogues’ histories.

  * * *

  Christina Boyd, one of my very favorite editors, has rallied a diverse and gifted group of Austenesque authors to take up their quills and reveal the secrets of Austen’s most scandalous men. Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues, a singular collection of short stories, is aimed to grant Austen's “other” men an opportunity to have their stories told by a reliable narrator: the rakes and rogues themselves! And though we may not allow an absolute reprieve, shall we say,

  “... that, from knowing him better, his disposition was better understood.”

  —PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, CHAPTER XVIII.

  * * *

  Akin to Miss Austen, these writers know the delicious appeal of a dangerous and charming man, whether he be a rake, a rogue, or a gentleman. With good reason we still read Austen after two hundred years; this collection shines a new light on why all her characters deserve to tell their own account. Be prepared to swoon, sigh, and laugh aloud. Smelling salts not included!

  * * *

  N.B. In the spirit of the collective and to be consistent throughout, this anthology adheres to US style and punctuation, though some of the authors prefer to use British spellings. Additionally, as a work inspired by Jane Austen’s great works, her own words and phrases may be found herein.

  * * *

  Further, the stories have been noted by the editor regarding Mature Content Guidelines in the Table of Contents:

  1) None: possible kissing and affection

  2) Mild: kissing

  3) Moderate: some sexual references but not explicit

  4) Mature: some nudity and some provocative sex

  5) Erotic romance: explicit, abundance of sex

  For the creator

  of such characters who

  simper, and smirk, and make love to us all.

  Novella I

  Willoughby’s Crossroads (moderate) Joana Starnes

  JOHN WILLOUGHBY

  * * *

  Compelled to satisfy his own comfort with careless diversions and even marrying to support his preferred style of living, John Willoughby flattered and deceived to achieve his goals, exhibiting little regret. His manly beauty and more than common gracefulness were instantly the theme of general admiration, and the laugh which his gallantry raised against Marianne received particular spirit from his exterior attractions...His person and air were equal to what her fancy had ever drawn for the hero of a favourite story. —Sense and Sensibility, Chapter IX. In the end, he admitted he loved Marianne Dashwood after all.

  But that he was forever inconsolable, that he fled from society, or contracted an habitual gloom of temper, or died of a broken heart, must not be depended on; for he did neither. —Sense and Sensibility, Chapter L.

  WILLOUGHBY’S CROSSROADS

  Joana Starnes

  The knocker, a pretentious urn, falls repeatedly and loudly into place as I employ it with uncommon force but to no avail. There is still no answer. I knock again. No gentlemanly tap-tap-tap, but the sustained pounding of the bailiff come to collect his dues. And, just like the aforementioned bailiff, I am not above bringing the door down, if it comes to that.

  It does not, which is just as well. I might have needed more than my roiling anger to prevail over the solid oak and should have brought the bailiff’s men as well. The door swings on its hinges revealing Tom, the second footman, and behind him the butler, fixing me with a censorious stare.