The Footman and IThe Footmen’s Club Trilogy
Valerie Bowman
June Third Enterprises, LLC
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.
The Footman and I, copyright ® 2020 by June Third Enterprises, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Print edition ISBN: 978-0-9893758-6-3
Digital edition ISBN: 978-0-9893758-3-2
Book Cover Design © Lyndsey Llewellen at Llewellen Designs.
For my cousin, Kate Abbott Buckley (aka MW), whose inventive imagination greatly influenced my childhood. That, and I’m pretty sure our watching soap operas every summer didn’t hurt a budding romance novelist. Besides, anyone who can come up with Florida Baby Hotcycle deserves some recognition.
Let the games begin.
Every fortune-hunting female in London is after the newly titled Earl of Kendall, but he’s intent on finding a wife whose heart is true. So, while drunkenly jesting with his friends in a pub one night, he has an idea—what if the ladies of the ton didn’t know he was a wealthy earl? All he has to do is pose as a servant at his friend’s summer country house party and make sure the guest list is full of beautiful, eligible debutantes. What could possibly go wrong?
May the best footman win.
Miss Frances Wharton is far more interested in fighting for the rights of the poor than in marriage, but her mother insists she attend a summer house party—and find herself a husband. Frances would rather wed a goat than the pompous man her mother has in mind, so in order to dissuade the would-be suitor, she vows to behave like a shrew. The only person she can be herself with is the kind, handsome footman she runs into at every turn. Their connection is undeniable, and the divide between them is no match for the passion they feel. But what will happen when Frances learns that the footman she adores is actually the earl she despises? In a game where everything is false, can they convince each other that their love is true?
The Players
Lucas Drake, Earl of Kendall
Dark-brown-haired, green-eyed, former navy hero turned earl, who needs to find a lady to make a countess. His friends cook up an insane plot to help him.
Rhys Sheffield, the Duke of Worthington
(aka Worth)
Black-haired, dark-blue-eyed, devil-may-care rake and gambler with a love of horses. He’s tall, dark, and handsome and has a past with a certain lady, who may just be bent on revenge when the perfect opportunity presents itself.
Beaumont Bellham, the Marquess of Bellingham
(aka Bell)
Blond-haired, light-blue-eyed, in control of everything in his world. Bell is a spy for the Home Office, and nothing misses his notice, that is until he just might meet his match in the most unexpected of places.
Miss Frances Wharton, daughter of Baron Winfield
Brown-haired and eyed, she’s determined to fight for the rights of the poor, has a tiny dowry, reads too much, and is too particular according to her mother. Frances has no interest in marriage until she meets a footman who just might change her mind.
Lady Julianna Montgomery, daughter of the Duke of Montlake
Blond-haired, light-green-eyed Lady Julianna is gorgeous, rich, and comes from an excellent family. Once considered the best catch of the Season, she’s happily engaged to the Marquess of Murdock. But when she finds her ex-flame, Worth, pretending to be a groom in the stables at a house party, she decides it’s the perfect opportunity to pay him back for jilting her.
Ewan Fairchild, Viscount Clayton
Boon companion to Kendall, Worth, and Bell, and host of the infamous summer house party. Married to his true love, Theodora, whom he met when she broke her leg trying to sneak into his stables.
Author’s Note
The Footmen’s Club Trilogy consists of the stories of the Earl of Kendall (book 1, The Footman and I), the Duke of Worthington (book 2, Duke Looks Like a Groomsman), and the Marquess of Bellingham (book 3, The Valet Who Loved Me).
The prologue of each book is the same scene written from each hero’s point of view. Rest assured, with the exception of the prologue, no other content or scene is repeated.
If you haven’t read the other books, the prologue will help you understand the origin of The Footmen’s Club. If you have read the other books, the prologue will give you a bit more insight into the hero of that book.
Thanks for reading!
Valerie
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Also by Valerie Bowman
Let’s Keep in Touch
About the Author
Prologue
London, July 1814
Lucas Drake, the fifth Earl of Kendall, was foxed. But only foxed, not an entire three sheets to the wind. And he should know. He spent more than a decade in His Majesty’s Royal Navy. Lucas knew precisely how dangerous a situation it was to have three sheets to the wind. The sheet controls the sail, after all, and if the line is not secured, the sheet flops in the wind. If all three sails were loose, the ship would be out of control. Lucas was not out of control. Four mugs of watered-down ale at the Curious Goat Inn would not do that to a former sailor. He was foxed enough, however, to say, “I think it’s time I find a wife,” aloud, in the presence of all three of his closest friends.
As expected, he silenced his three companions. Worth, Bell, and Clayton immediately snapped to face him with varying expressions of alarm.
Rhys Sheffield, the Duke of Worthington, was the first to find his voice. Worth
