The Double Wager

Book excerpt: The Double Wager is the digital reissue of a previously published and long out-of-print novel by New York Times Bestselling author Mary Balogh. Henrietta Tallant has always preferred the company of her brother and his rough-and-tumble friends to that of other ladies. She rebels at the prospect of making her debut into London society and the great marriage mart. However, when her brother’s friends challenge her to entice the toplofty, unattainable Duke of Eversleigh into offering her marriage within six weeks, she recklessly accepts and wagers her beloved horse. The Duke of Eversleigh, who has always adamantly proclaimed his determination never to marry, is beginning to feel the pull of duty and the need to produce an heir. His friends do not believe he will give in so easily, however, and wager with him that he will not make a marriage offer within a month. When Henrietta deliberately collides with the duke in a London ballroom, then, each is intent upon winning a wager--without any thought to what will happen after it is won.