Discreet Gentleman Book One A Discreet Gentleman of Discovery
Manufacturer: Kris Tualla
ISBN: 978-1-61252-148-0
Length:
Plus Novel
Category:
Historical
Sub-Category:
Suspense
Rating:
Sensual
Photography/Artwork:
Cover by: Jenifer Ranieri/Photographer: Elizabeth Barry & Kris Tualla
Release Date:
March 15, 2012
Price: $5.99
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Brander Hansen lost his hearing at age seven, his inheritance at twenty-three. Furious at his father's betrayal, Brander leaves home to make his way as Lord Olsen, a 'discreet gentleman of discovery' in 1721 Christiania, Norway. He intends to gain his own estate and begins buying the debt markers on Kildahlshus.
Baroness Regin Kildahl's husband has gambled away her estate and sunk to more dangerous habits. She writes to Lord Olsen soliciting his help saving both her husband and her home. When her husband dies, Regin offers herself and her title to anyone who will redeem his gambling debts, unaware of Brander's plan and circumventing his efforts.
The Hansen heir accepts her offer and hires Lord Olsen to deliver his bride. Brander's choices are clear: give the widow and her estate to his younger brother, or claim them both as his own. But who would accept a deaf husband?
EXCERPT
Brander Hansen read the names a second time to be certain of the connection. The irony was too perfect. He scribbled the words Skogen's creditors on a piece of paper and laid it atop several letters on his desk.
He snapped his fingers to get Niels' attention. When his valet looked in his direction, he held up the letters and the note.
"Skogen's creditors," Niels said.
Brander nodded then held up the letter he received this morning in his other hand.
His wife, he mouthed.
Niels' head fell back and a grin yanked his features. Brander knew he was laughing because his throat bounced.
Brander smiled. Thank God for Niels. His cousin, four years older and less privileged, was brought into the household to be his ears when Brander went deaf at seven. Without him, Brander might not have remembered how sound looked. Or how it felt.
As boys, Niels talked while Brander's hands felt the vibrations in his neck. They spent hours staring into the silvered glass in his bedchamber. Cheek to cheek -- and leaning close enough for their breath to fog the mirror -- Brander made his lips and tongue mimic the older boy's while Niels taught him to silently mouth words.
And to read lips. That skill was invaluable to him now in his adopted profession. Niels waved his hand and Brander looked at him.
"You can take money from both the husband and the wife for the same investigation!" Niels said.
Brander nodded and motioned: Yes. And I will.
Though that course of action made sense, it did provoke a twinge of conscience. The husband was dissolute with no redeeming qualities that Brander had yet discovered. Recent forays into opium further debilitated the fool. His creditors were legion and they called on Brander's services to discover to where the man's money was hidden.
Or if he had money any left.
But the wife sounded different. There was a sincere desperation in her letter that made Brander empathize with her dismal situation. Becoming deaf had made him oddly more attuned to words. He heard them differently than the average man seemed to.
Perhaps there was a way to help her, even while he destroyed her husband.
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