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  James shot her an amused smile. “I’ve only asked you a dozen times in the past few days.”

  Elizabeth jerked her head, as if waking up from a dazed dream. “If you ask me again,” she said mischievously, “I might give you a different answer.”

  “Is that so?”

  She nodded. “Most definitely so.”

  He ran one finger down the side of her neck, his blood running hot when he saw the way his touch made her shiver. “And what changed your mind?” he murmured.

  “One might think”—she gasped as his finger moved lower—“that it had something to do with being compromised, but if you really want the truth…”

  He leaned over her, smiling wolfishly. “Oh, I definitely want the truth.”

  Elizabeth allowed him to close the distance between them to a mere inch before she said, “It’s the book.”

  He froze. “The book?”

  “HOW TO MARRY A MARQUIS.” She cocked one of her brows. “I’m thinking of writing a revised edition.”

  He went white. “You’re joking.”

  She smiled and wiggled beneath him. “Am I?”

  “Please say you’re joking.”

  She slipped down farther in the bed.

  “I’ll make you say you’re joking,” James growled.

  Elizabeth reached up and wrapped her arms around him, not even noticing the loud clap of thunder that shook the walls. “Please do.”

  And he did.

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note: It is universally agreed upon by scholars of nineteenth-century etiquette that the copious scribblings found in the margins of this unique volume are the work of the Marquis of Riverdale.

  Excerpts from

  HOW TO MARRY A MARQUIS

  SECOND EDITION

  BY THE MARCHIONESS OF RIVERDALE

  Published 1818

  Copies Printed: One

  Edict Number One

  NEVER SET YOUR CAP FOR A GENTLEMAN UNTIL YOU ARE COMPLETELY CERTAIN OF HIS IDENTITY. AS ANY SENSIBLE YOUNG LADY MUST KNOW, MEN ARE EVER DECEPTIVE.

  Good God, Lizzie, haven’t you forgiven me for that yet?

  Edict Number Five

  POPULAR CONVENTION DEEMS THAT YOU SPEND NO MORE THAN TEN MINUTES IN CONVERSATION WITH A PARTICULAR GENTLEMAN. THIS AUTHOR DISAGREES. IF YOU FEEL THIS MAN MIGHT BE A CANDIDATE FOR MARRIAGE, IT BEHOOVES YOU TO KNOW HIS MIND BEFORE YOU COMMIT YOURSELF TO SUCH A SACROSANCT VOW. IN OTHER WORDS, HALF AN HOUR OF CONVERSATION MAY SAVE YOU FROM THE MISTAKE OF A LIFETIME.

  No arguments from this quarter.

  Edict Number Eight

  NO MATTER HOW WELL YOU LOVE YOUR RELATIONS, COURTSHIPS ARE BEST CONDUCTED WITHOUT THE PARTICIPATION OF YOUR FAMILY.

  Ah, but don’t forget the hunting lodge…

  Edict Number Thirteen

  EVERY WOMAN MUST KNOW HOW TO DEFEND HERSELF FROM UNWANTED ATTENTIONS. THIS AUTHOR RECOMMENDS BOXING. SOME MIGHT CONSIDER SUCH ATHLETIC CONDUCT UNBECOMING TO A GENTLE YOUNG LADY, BUT YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO DEFEND YOUR OWN REPUTATION. YOUR MARQUIS WILL NOT ALWAYS BE CLOSE AT HAND. THERE MAY BE TIMES WHEN YOU HAVE TO PROTECT YOURSELF.

  I will ALWAYS protect you.

  Edict Number Fourteen

  SHOULD THE AFOREMENTIONED ATTENTIONS NOT BE UNWANTED, THIS AUTHOR CAN OFFER NO ADVICE THAT MAY BE LEGALLY PRINTED IN THIS BOOK.

  Meet me in the master suite and I shall advise YOU.

  Edict Number Twenty

  (The Only One You Truly Need Remember)

  ABOVE ALL ELSE, BE TRUE TO YOUR HEART. WHEN YOU MARRY, WHETHER IT BE A MARQUIS OR AN ESTATE MANAGER (or both!), IT WILL BE FOR LIFE. YOU MUST GO WHERE YOUR HEART LEADS AND NEVER FORGET THAT LOVE IS THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT OF ALL. MONEY AND SOCIAL STATUS ARE POOR SUBSTITUTES FOR A WARM, TENDER EMBRACE, AND THERE IS LITTLE IN LIFE MORE FULFILLING THAN THE JOY OF LOVING AND KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE LOVED IN RETURN.

  And you ARE loved, Elizabeth. Until the last breath leaves my body, and for eternity after that.…

  About the Author

  JULIA QUINN started writing her first book one month after finishing college and has been tapping away at her keyboard ever since. The New York Times bestselling author of thirteen novels for Avon Books, she is a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest. Please visit her on the web at www.juliaquinn.com.

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  Julia Quinn

  Brighter Than the Sun

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  Everything and the Moon

  How to Marry a Marquis

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  The Bridgerton Series

  The Duke and I

  The Viscount Who Loved Me

  An Offer from A Gentleman

  Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

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  When He Was Wicked

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  (with Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, and Mia Ryan)

  Where’s My Hero

  (with Lisa Kleypas and Kinley MacGregor)

  Copyright

  Dictionary definition on page 317 reprinted from The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1991. Use by permission of Oxford University Press.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  HOW TO MARRY A MARQUIS. Copyright © 1999 by Julie Cotler Pottinger. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition MAY 2004 ISBN: 9780061745621

  Version 06072013

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