“What on earth?”
“Just listen.” She turned the page. “‘Ten or twelve days after, the head is affected with giddiness, the eyes with dimness of sight…’”
“Violet—”
“‘…the belly soon sinketh, and riseth again by degrees, with a hardness about the navel,’” she pressed on. “‘The heart beats inordinately, the natural appetite is dejected, yet she has a longing desire for—’”
Ford’s hand clenched her arm. “What’s the title of this chapter?”
She turned back to the previous page. “‘Of the Signs of Conception.’”
When she looked up, his heart was in his brilliant blue eyes. “Does this mean…?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I hope you’re pleased.”
And a moment later, he gathered her into his arms, telling her without words just how very pleased he was.
Apparently being with child had some effect on her responses. When his mouth met hers, her head was affected with giddiness and her heart beat inordinately…
Wait, she thought, with what little sense she had left. He always made her feel those things.
Always.
They were going to be late to Cainewood.
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Next up is Lily’s story in The Baron’s Inconvenient Bride. Please read on for an excerpt.
If you'd like to learn more about the real people, places, and events in The Viscount’s Wallflower Bride, turn the page for Lauren’s Author's Note...
BONUS MATERIAL
Author's Note
Explore the Chase Family World
Excerpt from The Baron’s Inconvenient Bride
Books by Lauren & Devon Royal
Contest
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
Dear Reader,
It goes without saying that Ford didn’t invent frames to hold spectacles on the face—credit for that goes to a London optician named Edward Scarlett, who came up with the idea in 1730. The first spectacles for reading were made in the late 13th century (and the first ones for distance about 300 years later), but before Scarlett’s innovation they were simply held to the face or balanced on the nose—momentarily helpful, but not something one could wear all day long. I like to think that if Ford Chase had really lived, he’d have been brilliant enough to invent eyeglass frames half a century earlier.
Although the minute hand began appearing on watches around 1675, it’s not clear who managed it first. Obviously someone missed a chance at a profitable patent! Everyone agrees the two-handed watch was developed in England, but some historians claim that Daniel Quare was the first to sell such a timepiece, while some say it was Thomas Tompion or others. But what does seem to be clear is that the minute hand was made possible by Robert Hooke’s 1660 invention of the spiral spring, which brought watches from a totally unpredictable performance to within two or three minutes’ accuracy a day.
A true genius, Robert Hooke did much more than revolutionize timekeeping; he also made important contributions in chemistry, meteorology, astronomy, and physics. Other scientists of the time are much revered today, including Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren, and Robert Boyle. Yet Hooke has been largely forgotten. Newton and Wren were both knighted, so why not Hooke, arguably a greater scientist? In 2003, Gresham College marked the 300th year of Hooke’s death by a series of lectures designed to resurrect his reputation.
Gresham College has provided free public lectures in London for over 400 years. Over time, it’s occupied several different locations. The lectures currently take place at Barnard’s Inn Hall, in a building that dates from the late 14th century. To see the upcoming schedule, visit the college’s website at www.gresham.ac.uk.
The Royal Society really was welcomed back to Gresham College in 1673, “with six quarts of each of canary, of Rhenish wine and of claret, and with fine cakes, macaroons and march-panes,” as the City Archives describe an account of their entertainment. But the actual date of the celebration was Monday, December 1. I took the liberty of tweaking history a bit in moving the event to the warm summertime, so Ford could decorate the piazza. All of the people I mentioned at the ball were members at the time, including John Evelyn, best known for his diary that has given us a window into the Restoration period, and John Locke, whose ideas were a powerful influence on the subsequent history of the Western world. Thomas Jefferson called Locke one of “the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception,” and drew heavily on his writings in drafting the Declaration of Independence.
Along with these men of note, I enjoyed bringing Hooke and the other scientists—and yes, alchemists—to life. Although the mere idea of making gold from base metals is a laughable one today, up until the mid-18th century it was considered a serious science. During the 1600s, most of the luminaries of the day practiced alchemy, King Charles included. Ironically, it was his chartering of the Royal Society that eventually led to alchemy’s decline. In that ordered environment, modern chemistry and the new scientific methods taught men to free themselves from the old traditions and question theories that had prevailed for centuries.
Although I invented the title Secrets of the Emerald Tablet, Alexander the Great did claim to have discovered the Emerald Tablet in the tomb of the legendary Hermes, and medieval alchemist Raymond Lully was said to have written a treatise about it that subsequently disappeared. No one knows the title, however, and although other writings attributed to Lully survive, that particular one
