title: The Disappearing Duke: The Improbable Tale of an Eccentric English Family
author:  Tom Freeman-Keel 
description: When, in the early 19th century, the fourth duke of Portland informed his sons that owing to "the strain of madness" in the family, "the normal life of married bliss cannot be for you," Lord John, the future fifth duke, came up with a unique and eventually problematic solution: he lived a double-or perhaps even triple-life. Calling himself Thomas Druce, he wooed and married a 16-year-old village girl and fathered three children. Then he abandoned her, eventually bringing the children to London, where he had fathered the first of three children with another woman whom he refused to marry until his first wife was dead. Confused yet? There's more: Druce also joined the army, ran a successful London department store and might have checked himself into an insane asylum for a time under the name of Dr. Harmer. As the duke of Portland at mid-century, he had underground tunnels built both at his country house and, rumor had it, his London mansion, the better to keep his many secrets. How he managed to juggle his multiple identities is a mystery that British authors Freeman-Keel (From Auschwitz to Alderney) and Crofts (coauthor of Sold) never do solve, but they recreate a fantastic tale of deception, intrigue and madness. Still, though this is an entertaining read, those expecting a strict historical reconstruction of events will be less than satisfied; the authors provide little in the way of sourcing for this "dramatization of a true story in which the truth is tantalizingly elusive." <br />Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  Regency Unlaced 7
  
  Pleasured by a Duke
  
  By
  
  Carole Mortimer
  
  USA Today Bestselling Author
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  COPYRIGHT
  
  Copyright © 2016 Carole Mortimer
  
  Cover Design Copyright © Glass Slipper Designs
  
  Editor: Linda Ingmanson
  
  Formatter: Matthew Mortimer
  
  ISBN: 978-1-910597-37-8 ePub
  
  ISBN: 978-1-910597-36-1 mobi
  
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are
  the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any
  resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events,
  or locales is entirely coincidental.
  
  All Rights Reserved.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  DEDICATIONS
  
  My Wonderful Family
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 1
  
  Mid-November, 1817
  
  Stowmont House, London
  
  “Not again!” Sebastian Falkner, the Duke of Stowmont, snorted his disgust as
  he threw down the letter he had been reading onto his desktop. “Lysander, is
  there a notice of some kind attached to the front door of Stowmont House in
  which I invite all m