“And Dangerous to Know”

Darcie Wilde is the award-winning author of the Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, a Regency-set historical mystery series inspired by the novels of Jane Austen.

Wilde applied the Page 69 Test to the new book in the series, And Dangerous to Know, and reported the following:

Page 69 of And Dangerous to Know, is transitional. Two of our main female protagonists — Rosalind Thorne the story’s lead, and Alice Littlefield, her best friend — are quite literally moving from one place to another, in this case via a borrowed carriage.

It’s also a transitional one for the story, because it’s Rosalind’s last chance to back out of what might become a very bad situation. She’s been asked to find some very sensitive letters by the highly place, and highly influential, Lady Melbourne. Those letters involve one of the biggest scandals, and the biggest celebrity, of Regency England, the poet, George Gordon, Lord Byron. Byron has recently had to leave the country. These letters show that Lady Melbourne knew the real reason behind his departure, and that her part would exacerbate the scandal, if it became public. If she takes the job, she risks becoming part of the scandal, if she turns the job down, she risks allowing a murderer to escape justice.

It’s also a chance for a little private conversation between friends about Rosalind’s private life, or lack thereof. Rosalind is trying to make up her mind about her future in more ways than one. During this time period, the limits on what women could do and still remain within the bounds of propriety and gentility were strict. Rosalind has been slowly stepping outside those bounds, possibly to the point of no return. But her gentility is a part of her identity. If she sheds it, who is she? What is she? And where does she fit in the world she has to live in?

So the discussion is about a choice between loves, but it is really a choice between worlds. On this page, Rosalind is, literally and figuratively, choosing where she wants to go.

Visit Darcie Wilde's website.

My Book, The Movie: And Dangerous to Know.

--Marshal Zeringue