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Authors: Jody Gayle with Eloisa James
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has one more challenge to face. He has to throw away those last bottles of whiskey that he has hidden around the house. He needs to make the final decision of his own initiative, with no input from Imogen. I wanted him to realize that he, Rafe, has no need to hide behind whiskey or mustaches—that he , and not his brothers, is the perfect man for Imogen.
After throwing out those bottles, he decides to court Imogen formally. He is the only person who understands that what Imogen needs, more than anything else, is to be courted with ceremony. In order for that to happen, Rafe must distance himself from the supposed Gabriel (remember, Imogen propositioned Gabe) and from Draven (whom Imogen madly pursued).
This is why there is a formal proposal scene at the end of the book, coming after Imogen has despaired. Rafe returns to the house, magnificently clad. Metaphorically he is no longer wearing the donkey’s head—but the clothing of a duke. He has, at long last, stepped into his brother’s shoes.
It is the duke who asks Imogen for her hand in marriage. He specifically tells her that he loves her enough for both of them—because she loved Draven more than Draven loved her. Those were the words she most needed to hear, in order to cure the pain of her first marriage. Of course, she really does love him. Their love is shared, and ten times stronger than anything Imogen felt for Draven.
But in that moment, they each shed their greatest fears. Rafe becomes the duke, taking on the responsibility and the self-esteem of the position. Imogen becomes a courted, adored, desirable woman . . . the kind of woman whom a duke kneels before while asking for her hand in marriage.
It’s a triumph for both characters, though, of course, the greatest triumph is just their love for each other, and their deep understanding of each other’s weaknesses and greatest longings.
In the end, though, these explanations were involved and after the fact. I ended up writing an entirely new chapter, spurred by the fans who were asking question after question on my bulletin board. It was the first time I’d thought of books as elastic, with changing borders. These days, self-published authors, in particular, pull their books off the shelf, reedit them, and republish as a matter of course. This was the first time I thought about amending one of my own books and in fact, this chapter is included in several translated versions of The Taming of the Duke , published abroad.
The Taming of the Duke Bonus Chapter
Following Directly After Rafe’s Marriage Proposal
Which is a gift from Eloisa to her Readers . . . because it is hard to say goodbye to the sweetness of Rafe and Imogen.
It was the middle of the night and he was standing outside Imogen’s bedchamber, frozen, his hand on the door latch. Hadn’t he promised that he would be ducal in all things? That hardly included barging into his future wife’s bedchamber in the middle of the night, like an under-butler furtively visiting a scullery maid’s bed.
Yet the devil on his shoulder reminded him that dukes were sneaking into bedchambers all over the country. At this very moment his fellow dukes were tupping married women, housemaids, maidens . . . in truth, therein lay the problem.
He would never wish Imogen to think that he saw her as a woman to tumble, a mere affaire , a lightskirt. His hand slipped from the latch and he turned to go, just as that same door swung inward.
Rafe’s first thought was that Imogen wasn’t wearing much. His second thought barely registered, something to do with the smile in her eyes and the saucy tilt to her hips.
“I was about to come and join you,” she said.
He blinked at her nightgown, an affair made of rosy silk. She shifted her shoulder and suddenly the silk slid down to her elbow. Rafe’s third thought, whatever it mighthave been, died a sudden death as their eyes met over the creamy expanse of plump breast before him.
“If I shrug one more time,”
After throwing out those bottles, he decides to court Imogen formally. He is the only person who understands that what Imogen needs, more than anything else, is to be courted with ceremony. In order for that to happen, Rafe must distance himself from the supposed Gabriel (remember, Imogen propositioned Gabe) and from Draven (whom Imogen madly pursued).
This is why there is a formal proposal scene at the end of the book, coming after Imogen has despaired. Rafe returns to the house, magnificently clad. Metaphorically he is no longer wearing the donkey’s head—but the clothing of a duke. He has, at long last, stepped into his brother’s shoes.
It is the duke who asks Imogen for her hand in marriage. He specifically tells her that he loves her enough for both of them—because she loved Draven more than Draven loved her. Those were the words she most needed to hear, in order to cure the pain of her first marriage. Of course, she really does love him. Their love is shared, and ten times stronger than anything Imogen felt for Draven.
But in that moment, they each shed their greatest fears. Rafe becomes the duke, taking on the responsibility and the self-esteem of the position. Imogen becomes a courted, adored, desirable woman . . . the kind of woman whom a duke kneels before while asking for her hand in marriage.
It’s a triumph for both characters, though, of course, the greatest triumph is just their love for each other, and their deep understanding of each other’s weaknesses and greatest longings.
In the end, though, these explanations were involved and after the fact. I ended up writing an entirely new chapter, spurred by the fans who were asking question after question on my bulletin board. It was the first time I’d thought of books as elastic, with changing borders. These days, self-published authors, in particular, pull their books off the shelf, reedit them, and republish as a matter of course. This was the first time I thought about amending one of my own books and in fact, this chapter is included in several translated versions of The Taming of the Duke , published abroad.
The Taming of the Duke Bonus Chapter
Following Directly After Rafe’s Marriage Proposal
Which is a gift from Eloisa to her Readers . . . because it is hard to say goodbye to the sweetness of Rafe and Imogen.
It was the middle of the night and he was standing outside Imogen’s bedchamber, frozen, his hand on the door latch. Hadn’t he promised that he would be ducal in all things? That hardly included barging into his future wife’s bedchamber in the middle of the night, like an under-butler furtively visiting a scullery maid’s bed.
Yet the devil on his shoulder reminded him that dukes were sneaking into bedchambers all over the country. At this very moment his fellow dukes were tupping married women, housemaids, maidens . . . in truth, therein lay the problem.
He would never wish Imogen to think that he saw her as a woman to tumble, a mere affaire , a lightskirt. His hand slipped from the latch and he turned to go, just as that same door swung inward.
Rafe’s first thought was that Imogen wasn’t wearing much. His second thought barely registered, something to do with the smile in her eyes and the saucy tilt to her hips.
“I was about to come and join you,” she said.
He blinked at her nightgown, an affair made of rosy silk. She shifted her shoulder and suddenly the silk slid down to her elbow. Rafe’s third thought, whatever it mighthave been, died a sudden death as their eyes met over the creamy expanse of plump breast before him.
“If I shrug one more time,”
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