The Dark Duke: One on One, #2

By Tirza Schaefer

Lizzy's younger cousin Caroline is about to marry Captain Garrisfield, the nephew and heir of the Duke of Cambridge. Lizzy is not so lucky. All the eligible young men of the ton are only fortune and title hunters.

Moreover, they are not man enough to tempt her in any way. When she meets the duke more often due to the new family connection, she decides that he is the only man she will ever love, but she also knows that this will remain an unfulfilled longing for the rest of her life.

After she is unsuccessful at trying to find a way to convince the duke that she is worth the risk of revealing his secrets to and confiding in, she turns to her cousin for solace. Much is at stake and Lizzy's family threatens to disown her. Will she have to marry her cousin's tyrant neighbour after all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tirza Schaefer
• Release date: Apr 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9783946011323

Tirza Schaefer

Tirza Schaefer was born in Cologne (Köln), Germany. After she graduated from school, where she qualified in German “Abitur” and also attained proficiency in English and Latin (she also studied French for two years and Russian for one), she moved to the United Kingdom in 1991 and lived there for the next eight years. She first started to study for a BA Combined at SOAS (School of Oriental & African Studies, London University) in Comparative Religious Studies & Indonesian Studies, then changed to The London Metropolitan University, and graduated in an HND in Leisure and Tourism Studies and a BA in Tourism Studies with Marketing.. She moved back to Germany in 1999 to embark on a new adventure: being a mother of three wonderful children. At the beginning of 2015, Tirza started to publish her books, and with currently over 30 published, continuously working on more, she is a creative hothouse. In April 2017, an Arabian Mau cat called Taani from Dubai joined the family. In 2018 and 2019, she founded Goddess Reiki, and loves to write about and work with Goddess archetypes to explore her psyche and help clients in this process with their self-development. To this day, despite her many academic achievements, her many talents and skills, Tirza Schaefer has a progressive personality and always strives to expand herself in many areas. A non-extensive list of her qualifications are: *University Graduate *Mother *International Author *Usui Reiki Master/Teacher *Founder of Goddess Reiki *Practicing Witch *Voice Over Artist *Empowered Empath *Goddess Facilitator *Intuitive Reader & Healer Thus, you can never find “the final sentence” for her vita. Her life is an ongoing work of art, of character building, of an expanding personality, yet ultimately always moving forward, always striving for new, for more, for added quality of life, of herself. Tirza is a woman who is as steadfast and loyal as she is adventurous and surprising. It is exciting and worthwhile to observe her further to see what she will come up with next. You never know…

Book preview

Dedication

Idedicate this book to all those who research the past, keep the glorious moments of times long gone alive to inspire us and to serve with the darker chapters of history to remind us of past mistakes we ought not to repeat.

To those who seek their roots so that they may reach for the stars while being firmly grounded within their heritage. Those that do not know where they come from, may they find peace and create their own identity afresh in a manner that makes them happiest.

I dedicate this to those long gone, to the men and women who fought for and pursued a grander vision for themselves than society afforded them in the eras they dwelled in, may their sacrifices and courage continue to inspire us to move forward and strife for our dreams with faith and fortitude.

To the women who sought liberation from a society suppressing their spirit and free expression in so many ways and may we distinguish between the beauty and the ugly, embrace the former and discard the latter.

To Jane Austen who is my favourite author of all times and whose character, Elizabeth Bennett from her world-famous work Pride & Prejudice served as an inspiration for my unruly Miss Cartwright in this book. May her light and the beauty of her language and spirit shine into the hearts of generations to come and inspire all those that read her works with the splendour of her vision and beauty of heart.

Contents

Dedication

Contents

The Story

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Books by Tirza Schaefer

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

The Story

Lizzy’s younger cousin Caroline is about to marry Captain Garrisfield, the nephew and heir of the Duke of Cambridge. Lizzy is not so lucky. All the eligible young men of the ton are only fortune and title hunters. Moreover, they are not man enough to tempt her in any way.

When she meets the duke more often due to the new family connection, she decides that he is the only man she will ever love, but she also knows that this will remain an unfulfilled longing for the rest of her life. After she is unsuccessful at trying to find a way to convince the duke that she is worth the risk of revealing his secrets to and confiding in, she turns to her cousin for solace.

Much is at stake and Lizzy’s family threatens to disown her. Will she have to marry her cousin’s tyrant neighbour after all?

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​Books by Tirza Schaefer

Romance

Romantic Poetry

Love Expressed

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Romance Series

The Milf Diaries

Izzy

Ria

Reyna

Sassy

Calendar Boys

.

Seals in Spain Trilogy (Read in Order)

Book 1: Tank

Book 2: Dom

Book 3: Seb

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Band of Brothers Trilogy (Read in Order)

Book 1: Drew

Book 2: Zee

Book 3: Rico & Chad

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Tirza’s Christmas Tales (Standalone Themed Seasonal Novellas)

Book 1: A New Family For Christmas

Book 2: Christmas in Montana

(more to come)

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Her Harem, A Reverse Harem Series in 12 Parts

Book 1: Black Veil

Book 2: Wild Thing

Book 3: Gold Digger

Book 4: Guardian

Book 5: Warrior

Book 6: Takana

Book 7: Wedding

Book 8: Angel

Book 9: Dream Catcher

Book 10: Naughty

Book 11: Princess

Book 12: Dinner for One

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Romantic Standalone Novels

Balcony Above The Sea

Badass Heroes

Opposites Attract

Born To Be Wild

In The Event of Love

Cloud Nine

Sealed Brothers

Dating A Hero

Chopped Encounter

Birthday Present

The Dark Duke

Snake Goddess Rising

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Romantic Standalone Novellas

A Little Slice of Heaven

(part of the Summer Heat anthology)

The Navy Seal’s Nanny

Kisses In Darkness

The Right Kind of Wrong

Love In The Sky

Marine Party

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Please note that my romantic literature contains explicit and graphic sexual content, hot kink and at times, some mild violence and is therefore aimed at a mature adult audience. All novels come with a guaranteed happy ending and no cheating and will melt your heart as well as your panties!

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Spirituality, Parenting & Children

Goddess Meditations (Series)

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

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Spiritual Poetry

My Spirit Song

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Travelogue, Parenting and Magic

A Magical Family Holiday

.

Children’s Literature

How Picasso Makes You A Genius

Chapter 1

Caroline’s Beau

Elizabeth was usually called Lizzy by her relatives and close friends. Not that she had close friends who were not her relatives. The ton operated on a simple principle which was power and money, one bringing with it the other.

Lizzy was a rich heiress, her father being Sir George Reginald Harry Cartwright, Duke of Levington. She was his only child and the title would one day go to her son, as the title was bequeathed on direct bloodline only, as long as there was still a child left to bear a son.

Elizabeth didn’t want to get married. It wasn’t that she didn’t have a romantic side to herself. However, she was a shrewd young woman and knew very well that the young men trying to gain her affection were merely interested in her money and the title.

Her father was a well-educated and affectionate man and had not pushed her to marry in some years, knowing that his daughter would be able to find a husband at any time she so chose. She was twenty-six years old and still unmarried which the ton whispered to be an outrage. This included her mother as well.

Lizzy’s cousin Caroline profited from this now. As an orphan, she had been taken in by Lizzy’s parents at a young age and the two girls, similar in age, had grown up as sisters. Caroline was Lizzy’s best friend in the world. The two young women were closer than any sisters of their acquaintance. Upon their coming out, Caroline had stood in Lizzy’s shadow. She didn’t have a large dowry and being her uncle’s younger brother’s child, she didn’t have a vast fortune to entice young men to try for her hand.

By the age of twenty-six, however, many had given up hope that Lizzy would ever marry and now hoped Caroline might be the woman to bear the next Duke of Levington. If Lizzy remained childless, the title would go down this line, as there were no close male relatives.

The ball the two young ladies were attending that evening was abuzz with gossip. The Duke of Cambridge’s nephew, a young war hero, had just come into town. His father had died on the battlefield, the mother in childbirth and his vastly rich uncle had taken him into his care, which meant, having him looked after by nannies and sent to the best private schools in the country. Then the duke had purchased a commission for his nephew and the young man had just returned at the age of twenty-five, a high-ranking officer and a war hero already.

The duke himself was a man of infinite power. He was always dressed in dark colours, simply, without frills. Now he was going to attend this ball, it was said, to find a deserving wife for his nephew. The duke himself was not married. He kept himself away from the kinds of social events where young ladies of good standing attended to avoid being the prey of husband-seeking minions. He had a reputation of visiting places of ill repute and seducing widows of less than impeccable morals.

Lizzy and Caroline had not been long at the assembly when the duke and his nephew were