His Delightful Lady Delia (American Royalty Book #3) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Grace Hitchcock

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177 pages

English

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Behind the curtain, she must put on the performance of a lifetime . . . while love and risk take center stage.Delia Vittoria's mother has lost her voice at last. After five years of being her diva mother's understudy, it is time for Delia to assume her place as the lead soprano onstage behind the Academy of Music's faded velvet curtain. And she is all that stands between the Academy and its greatest threat--the nouveaux riches' lavish new Metropolitan Opera House.Kit Quincy never misses opening night, but when his sister begs him to help get her husband out of an Italian opera star's arms, Kit accidentally confronts the younger Lady Vittoria instead. When he meets the stunning young diva again, he attempts to make amends, but then finds himself pulled into a society matron's plot to win the great opera war. To draw attention to Delia Vittoria as the Academy's new soprano star, Kit is convinced to act as both Delia's patron and the enigmatic phantom who once haunted the Academy years ago. But when a second phantom appears, more than Delia's rising career is threatened."His Delightful Lady Delia is full of yearning and humor and just the right touch of old-fashioned Victorian melodrama."--SARAH SUNDIN, bestselling author of Until the Leaves Fall in Paris

Sujets

Historical romance

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 novembre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493439072
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0408€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Praise for Grace Hitchcock
“A delightful romp! His Delightful Lady Delia is full of yearning and humor and just the right touch of old-fashioned Victorian melodrama. Delia’s upstanding character and her quest for acceptance make her an endearing heroine, and Kit offers dash and integrity and a trace of vulnerability. Enjoy!”
Sarah Sundin, bestselling author of Until Leaves Fall in Paris
“ Her Darling Mr. Day is a delightful and charming romantic romp. Grace Hitchcock has created wonderful characters who face mystery and adventure while falling in love. I know my readers will find this novel as endearing as I did and highly recommend it.”
Tracie Peterson, bestselling author of the L A D I E S O F T H E L A K E series
“Grace Hitchcock does an excellent job of weaving history of the era and Louisiana region into the romance with well-drawn characters, who came alive in their first scene and stole their way into this reader’s heart. A gutsy heroine with determination to spare, trapped in society’s rules of the day, had me cheering for her from the beginning. Her Darling Mr. Day kept me reading when other things needed doing.”
Lauraine Snelling, bestselling author of the R E D R I V E R OF THE N ORTH series
“Delightfully original! Set during the glittering Gilded Age, My Dear Miss Dupré is a captivating story that will charm readers from the first page until the last. Grace Hitchcock is a writer to watch!”
Jen Turano, USA Today bestselling author
“Sparkling with vivacious energy, this romance launches Hitchcock’s A M E R I C A N R O Y A L T Y series. . . . Fans of TV’s The Bachelorette will adore this historical spin on competitive courtship that features all the glitz, glamour, and drama that the Gilded Age brought to New York City’s elite.”
Booklist on My Dear Miss Dupré
“To the modern reader, the plot of this book is reminiscent of the popular reality show The Bachelorette . In what is a unique take, author Grace Hitchcock has combined the modern with the old-fashioned by setting her book at the height of America’s Gilded Age. . . . Overall, the book is amusing and entertaining. The characters are interesting and possess great depth.”
Historical Novels Review on My Dear Miss Dupré
Half Title Page
Books by Grace Hitchcock
A M E R I C A N R O Y A L T Y
My Dear Miss Dupré
Her Darling Mr. Day
His Delightful Lady Delia
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2022 by Grace Hitchcock
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-3907-2
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Create Design Publish LLC, Minneapolis, Minnesota / Jon Godfredson
Author is represented by The Steve Laube Agency.
Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.
Dedication
For my Angel Baby
Because of the hope we have in Jesus Christ, we will hold each other again. Know you are treasured and loved beyond measure.
With all my heart, Mama
Contents
Cover
Praise for Grace Hitchcock
Half Title Page
Books by Grace Hitchcock
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Epigraph
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Epigraph
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:15–19
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.
William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 116”
One
NEW YORK CITY OCTOBER 1883
M adre had lost her voice at last. And while the news had initially struck joy in Delia Vittoria’s heart, she now repented most heartily as she paced in the wings between the walls of faded burgundy velvet of the Academy of Music’s curtain. The hum of the audience and the strumming of the instruments warming up filled her senses. After five years as her prima donna mother’s soprano understudy, Delia had thought she would be ready for the limelight when the time came, especially since she had been all but banished to the ensemble for years. She clasped her trembling fingers. She couldn’t allow herself to give in to her nerves or they would affect her voice and her career would be over in a single night. Maestro Rossi would be furious if she failed after all the hours he had invested in her.
Maybe no one will be here for opening night, what with the Metropolitan Opera House’s grand opening being tonight, as well. She peeked through the crack between the curtains, and her stomach dropped as she spotted Mr. and Mrs. Astor taking their seats in their rose-lined gilded opera box. The pair was never there for the opening act. But Delia supposed that when the rival opera house was opening the same night, Mrs. Caroline Astor wished her support for the Knickerbockers’ exclusive opera house to be evident, and judging from the sixteen other boxes filled with guests, Mrs. Astor had used her influence as the leading matron in society. If Delia faltered, all in society would know by midnight, as every member of the elite set had their pick of opera balls to attend throughout the city and would no doubt discuss Delia’s unexpected appearance.
Her pulse hammering in her ears, she whirled away from the curtain and nearly ran into an ensemble member dashing to his place on the opposite side of the stage. She focused on what Maestro Rossi had told her to do should she be overtaken by nerves. Breathe in. Breathe out. She closed her eyes and imagined herself not in the wings but alone with her teacher. This was just another lesson, one of thousands—in front of thousands. Her stomach churned. This exercise was not working. Lord, help me.
The instruments silenced, and as she closed her eyes again, she could envision the rustling coming from last-minute guests finding their seats, their murmurs echoing off the horseshoe of exclusive boxes lining the walls of the Academy that held New York’s elite. The curtains drew back as the prelude began for Bellini’s La Sonnambula, The Sleepwalker , and Lisa’s cavatina followed, the company streaming onstage while Delia doubled over, feeling she might actually toss her accounts now that her entrance was rapidly approaching.
Four company men took their positions, gripping the horse shafts of the milk cart in which she was supposed to stand and ride onto the stage while performing her aria. Madre had done it countless times as Amina, the young bride-to-be in Bellini’s opera. Delia could not fail. She swallowed back a groan and smacked her cheeks in rapid succession. The bride was not supposed to appear green, rather fresh-faced and rosy-cheeked. She grasped the nearest actor’s hand beside the milk cart, who assisted her inside. The men adjusted their hold on the shafts, and she drew in a sharp breath through gritted teeth at the sudden movement. The actor sent her a reassuring wink as she spread her feet apart to keep her balance, clasping her hands to her chest, praying she looked for all the world to be a girl in love, even though she had no experience of such things in her nearly four and twenty years.
One of the girls in charge of costuming flitted past, only to whirl about and point to Delia’s hair, grimacing. Delia swept her hands over the overlarge hairstyle, her ebony locks arranged and puffed to perfection. Her fingers found the loose flower, and she tucked the blossom back into place, resumed her position and plastered on a smile to cover her nerves.
The milk cart was tugged forward, and she almost lost her footing but then gripped the floorboards in her slippered feet. I will not fall. The cart jolted her again as it crossed through the wings and onto the stage. She spread her arms wide to keep from stumbling and decided to hold the position to fool the audience into thinking she had already faltered. She fought against squinting past the lights to see who was in the audience, yet she had performed enough as a member of the choir to know who would be there and where. Instead, she focused on the massive crystal chandelier overhead and al