Her Grace of Stonegreave tossed the scandal sheet to the floor. “Honestly, Verity, you’d think Mr. Clemens could find something better to do than to subvert the reputations of people he doesn’t even know.

Her Companion, Verity Walford, picked the paper up, straightened the sheets, scanning as she re-ordered the pages, and stopped to read the article concerning a woman she’d come to like very much.

Dearest Readers,

We’ve discovered so much scandal already how could we imagine more? Yet more, much more, is what we found when we turned our attention to the mysterious Miss F. and the strange interest shown in her by none other than the Duke of C’s heir, Captain B. G. HMRN.

The strange doings began with the arrival of this pair at the Queen’s Barque. The tweenie who assisted with treatment of the sick and injured claimed that the Captain had been rescued by Miss F. some time in the very early hours of April 1st, at the very height of the storm. What could a gently reared young miss have been doing out in such weather at such an hour? Perhaps Miss F is not what she pretends to be.

Later, we learned from confidences shared by one of the groomsmen, that the Captain and his friend Lord S. had hired men to assist them in watching persons suspected of involvement in the theft of munitions intended for the fight against Boney. Among those named as suspects was the surprisingly present, Miss F.

Even more mysterious was the news, contributed by the local vicar’s cleaning lady, that Miss F and the vicar, one Rev. Mr. S., had spent the better part of two days closeted together, supposedly going over old church registers. Even I could have thought up a better excuse for a clandestine meeting than that.

Sadly, both Miss F and Captain BG departed the inn before this reporter could discover the truth of their activities. Of the vicar, well, we comment on his activities in another column of this special edition of The Teatime Tattler.

“Do you think Esme’s true identity has been compromised?” Verity asked.

“How could it? The article refers to her consistently as Miss F. We both know Fynlock is not her name.”

“Is this article likely to cause problems for her when she approaches his grace of Cowal about their relationship?”

“The only difficulty I can forsee is that the Duke’s heir knows Esme as Miss Fynlock. When she shows up at the ducal seat claiming to be the His Grace’s long lost relative, Captain Gilroy is going to have a lot of uncomfortable questions for her.”

“I don’t suppose there is anything we can do to mitigate matters?”

“You are correct in that, Verity. I’ve done all I can to get Esme a favorable interview with the duke. She will have to handle any surprises from there on her own. One thing I am certain of, she has no idea that Captain Gilroy is heir to Cowal.”

“Of course not. That announcement was only made in yesterday’s papers. Esme is well on her way to Scotland and unlikely to get the news before she arrives at Cowal.”

“It will be interesting to learn how she and the captain resolve any issues arising from this turn of events.”

“I hope she is not tossed out on her ear without a hearing.”

“If she is, she knows she may come to me. I owe her my life and will never consider that debt paid.”

About Wait for Me: Esmeralda Crobbin, aka the pirate Irish Red, and Captain, Lord Brandon Gilroy were enemies by nature who first met during a battle at sea. But fate trumps nature when a fierce storm creates a chance encounter and forced proximity. Brandon learns the pirate is a woman of serious honor and responsibility. Esmeralda discovers the captain is more than a uniform stuffed with rules and regulations. Both love the sea with boundless passion, but can they love each other?

Get the next Teatime Tattler installment from the fabulous Jude Knight at https://judeknightauthor.com/.

Follow all the Storm & Shelter scandals from this link WANTED. You may need to scroll down a bit to find the blog hop information.

Click here to learn how to #BeInToWin by telling us who you think is the character in Storm & Shelter who reported all this shocking news.

If you would like to know how the Duchess of Stonegreave came to be in the debt of a Caribbean pirate read The French Duchess. You can get your copy here https://books2read.com/u/bwv0x0, or leave a comment below, and I will put your name in a drawing to receive a free copy of The French Duchess. Drawing ends on April 24, 2021. Winner announced on the Belles Brigade FB group April 25, 2021.