Betina Krahn (18 page)
Authors: Make Me Yours (v5.0)
“See?” she said, adoring him. “You’re a wonderful dancer.”
“With the right partner,” he said. “I have a confession to make. I’ve just developed a new technique.”
“What is it?”
“I imagine my gorgeous wife is dancing naked in my arms.”
“How innovative of you,” she said, slowing, her eyes shining.
“I’m discovering, however, that it has a flaw,” he said, slowing, too, and pulling her closer. “Chiefly, the way it makes me want to—”
He came to a dead stop in the middle of the floor, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her with everything in him. And by the time that kiss was finished, the Iron had melted from Jack’s name forever.
Rest assured that Prince Albert Edward’s documented activities support every characteristic I’ve given him in
Make Me Yours
. He was a troubled youth whose mother made no secret of her dislike for him. He grew up to rebel emphatically against his dolorous, straight-laced mother and the whole cult of “repression as respectability” that she spawned.
“Bertie,” as he was known, was notorious as a womanizer and did indeed possess the quirk of carrying on affairs with only married women. As portrayed in the book, the idea of gaining favor through sex was commonplace in Victorian times, a well-established route to improving a family’s status and connections. Noblemen did indeed encourage their wives to “indulge” the prince.
The “Daisy” mentioned at the end of the book was also historical: Frances Maynard Brooke, Countess of Warwick, was the inspiration for the Gay 90’s song “Daisy, Daisy” (“a bicycle built for two”). Daisy caused quite a scandal in 1891 by using her affair with Bertie as a cover for her affair with Charles Beresford, one of Bertie’s best friends! It became public and the prime minister himself had to intervene to keep the prince from being dragged into the courts. The
rupture of the friendship between Bertie and his mistress-poaching friend never healed.
If you’re interested in learning more or contacting me, visit BetinaKrahn.com.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3545-2
MAKE ME YOURS
Copyright © 2009 by Betina Krahn.
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