A Determined Lady (Regency Ladies #1)

Josephine Barly


Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
4.00 ·
[?] · 1 ratings · 62 pages · Published: 04 Apr 2020

A Determined Lady by Josephine Barly
Lady Cordelia Radcliff has three names. One of the lords is behind the biggest pain she has ever felt, and she is set on discovering the truth. At three and twenty, she cannot move on from her grief until she finds the answer she seeks, and even if her dear friend Jemima Bennett is at times hesitant, she understands that Cordelia needs the truth to put the past behind her.
But at a masquerade Cordelia meets a stranger who makes her feel alive, and as she meets the two dukes and the earl, she can feel the danger threatening her and those she loves, as well as truths she had ignored that start revealing themselves.
Will she find the truth before someone gets hurt? And what can her life become once she learns secrets she knew nothing about?

Warning: There are explicit romantic scenes. For mature audiences (+18).
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Excerpt
Cordelia Radcliff had three names scribbled on a scrap of paper:
Nathaniel Pembroke, Duke of Ashbury
Bertram Fletcher, Earl of Surrey
Grayson Berkeley, Duke of Essex
One—or the three—were behind the biggest and most dreadful ache Cordelia had ever felt. At least she could be comforted by the fact that, a year after that wrecking eve, she would find justice.
She kept the list in her reticule, even if she knew she would never forget the names. But it kept her motivated, as they were evidence, a reminder, of what had happened, and of the bravery of her witness to reveal the identity of the three men who had been seen entering the house that evening. Unfortunately, that same witness had drunk a little bit and could not remember who had gone in first or last, as that would have been indication enough of who had committed the crime.
Cordelia sat on the settee in the drawing room, waiting for her friend. She had little else to do and, in all honesty, even if she sat at the pianoforte, she would not be able to play any music.
She had received the three names the evening before, and she had spent every waking moment trying to devise her course of action.
Of course, Cordelia had been thinking for the better part of the year what she would do, but once she knew the identities—and station—of the men she suspected of the crime, she had needed to adapt certain matters.
“Will you stay here all day?” Cassandra, Cordelia’s older sister, asked from the doorway. She was tall and striking with black hair and green eyes, unlike Cordelia, who was of average height and average looks, and she was four and twenty.
“Jemima is visiting me,” Cordelia told her. “Where are you going?”
“Bond Street,” Cassandra replied. “Anne wants to buy some muslins and ribbons, and she asked me to join her.”
“I’m certain you will enjoy yourself. Where is Mother?”
“In her rooms,” Cassandra told her what she had been expecting to hear.
“Of course,” Cordelia’s smile was forced, and after a courteous glance, Cassandra left.
Cordelia couldn’t help but wonder if their lives would ever be the same—if Cassandra would be courted again, if their mother would regain her health, if their father would stop busying himself with his work…
But it wasn’t the time to ponder such things.
Cordelia heard a carriage and after checking through the window, she stood, awaiting her friend.
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