Lady Sarah's Sinful Desires (35 page)

 

Author's Note

R
esearch is always a fascinating part of the writing process, so for those of you who are interested, I've included a bit of extra information on some of the historically accurate references in the story. For instance, the first balloon flight in England was performed by the Italian Vincent Lunardi, on September 15, 1784. James Sadler, whom I mention in the book, was a balloonist during the Regency period. He made his first attempt shortly after Lunardi's, on October 4, 1784, and while he did enjoy several successful flights, he was sadly devastated by the death of his son, Windham Sadler, in a ballooning accident in 1824.

Doctor Hill, on the other hand, whom Lord Spencer mentions during his card game with Denison, Lady Duncaster and Sarah, was a physician during the 1700s, and the first to note the dangers of inhaling snuff. In 1761, he published a study (
Cautions Against the Immoderate Use of Snuff
) in which he wrote, “The Acrimony of Snuff is able to produce in those Parts, with which it immediately or accidentally comes in contact, Swellings and Excretions, which, in some Kinds, require the severest Operations of the Surgeon to extirpate them; and in others become fatal, because they lie beyond his Reach . . .” But since the dangers of
smoking
tobacco weren't known as early as 1820, Lady Duncaster happily enjoys her cheroot until Sarah's mother makes a fuss for social reasons.

And for an added bit of fun, since I do mention Spencer's ability to skip a stone twenty-­five times and some of you may think this unlikely, the current world record is actually an astonishing fifty-­one skips, set by Russell Byars on July 19, 2007. His impressive attempt can be found on YouTube.

 

About the Author

 

Born in Denmark, SOPHIE BARNES spent her youth traveling with her parents to wonderful places all around the world. She's lived in five different countries, on three different continents, and speaks Danish, English, French, Spanish, and Romanian. But, most impressive of all, she's been married to the same man three times—in three different countries and in three different dresses.

When she's not busy dreaming up her next romance novel, Sophie enjoys spending time with her family, swimming, cooking, gardening, watching romantic comedies and, of course, reading.

Visit Sophie Barnes at www.sophiebarnes.com.

You can also find her on Facebook and on Twitter @BarnesSophie.

 

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By Sophie Barnes

Novels

L
ADY
S
ARAH'S
S
INFU
L
D
ESIRES

T
HE
D
ANGER
IN
T
EMPTING AN
E
ARL

T
HE
S
CANDAL IN
K
ISS
ING AN
H
EIR

T
HE
T
ROU
BLE WITH
B
EING A
D
UK
E

T
HE
S
ECRET
L
IFE OF
L
ADY
L
UCINDA

T
HERE'
S
S
OMETHING
A
BOUT
L
A
DY
M
ARY

L
ADY
A
LEXANDRA
'S
E
XCELLENT
A
DVENTU
RE

H
OW
M
ISS
R
UTHERFO
RD
G
OT
H
ER
G
ROOVE
B
A
CK

Novellas

M
ISTLETOE
M
AGIC

(
from
F
IVE
G
OLDEN
R
INGS:
A
C
HRISTMAS
C
OLLECTION
)

 

Copyright

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.

Map courtesy of Sophie Barnes

LADY SARAH'S SINFUL DESIRES.
Copyright © 2015 by Sophie Barnes. 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, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition MAY 2015 ISBN: 9780062358882

Print Edition ISBN: 9780062358851

FIRST EDITION

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