His at Night
His at Night is a historical romance by Sherry Thomas. It won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Historical Romance in 2011. Plot summary The novel is set in Victorian England. Lord Vere, an agent of the crown, and his accomplices have managed to become house guests of a reclusive suspect while he is out of town. Their hostess is his niece, Elissande Edgerton. She sees his sudden arrival as means for her and her aunt to escape her tyrannical uncle by making him fall in love with her in the three days she has until her uncle's return. The problem is, Lord Vere is unforgivingly stupid. So she sets her sights on Lord Vere's brother, Freddie. Lord Vere poses as one of society's most bumbling bachelors as his disguise. The need to play that role in front of the niece chafes at first, until he sees her as a conniving gold digger determined to entrap his brother in marriage. While trying to gather evidence on the uncle, he tries to foil the niece's plans, only to become entrapped himself. Now married, Elissande has freed not only herself, but her sickly aunt, who is addicted to laudanum. But on the uncle's return, he demands the return of his wife or he'll maim her idiot of a husband. Meanwhile, Lord Vere has gathered evidence they need, but have also uncovered that he is a murderer and the uncle is arrested. Not happy that he's been entrapped into marriage, Lord Vere drinks too much one night soon after their wedding and his disguise slips. Not remembering all that he'd said and done, he tries to act the idiot the next day, but Elissande isn't fooled. She confronts him, but he avoids the topic. She begins to play along in the day, knowing she had her reasons for acting a part and so can't fault him for his. While marrying him had been an accident, it had served her purposes, and she finds she's fallen in love with her new husband. He, however, rebuffs her declaration, saying he wants to get an annulment, for he can't yet forgive her for her deceit and also can't yet give up his illusion of what his perfect wife should be. Elissande is devastated, and then discovers her aunt has been kidnapped by her uncle, who has escaped from prison. The uncle demands her appearance, alone, at a rail station in a countryside town. Lord Vere assures her he will arrive ahead of time and be there to help her. The uncle brings her to a deserted home and physically assaults her. Elissande and Lord Vere, however, have packed her reticule with a lead weight, and she uses it to defend herself, keeping him at bay until Lord Vere arrives. Before they can silence him with chloroform, the uncle reveals that Elissande is actually his daughter. Elissande's beloved aunt, now much recuperated since she's finally free of her abusive husband, confirms that she is