Authors: Daniel Friedman
Riot Most Uncouth (33 page)
“The last time I saw you, you presented me with a dichotomy, a choice between the passionate lover and the prudent suitor. You and Mr. Sedgewyck gave me an object lesson in the failings of both sorts of men. I do not like being viewed the way Sedgewyck saw me; as a chattelâas a piece in some game. But you gave me little reason to hold out hope for romantic love, Lord Byron. You turned so cold, so fast, and you abandoned me.”
I didn't need to tell her that I was abandoned first. I said, “I was never dishonest about what I had to offer you.”
“You'd carry your love in your insect heart, to cliffsides and mountains and minarets. I remember what you offered. You weren't dishonest. You were only selfish. I have never married because I require an unselfish man, and I have yet to meet one.”
“You must be very lonely.”
Her brow knit: “Men of inadequate character make for poor company. I am quite content with my business and my books.”
“But surely you desire a legacy. Who will look after all you've built, when you're gone?”
She shrugged indifferently. “I've a handful of nieces and nephews, and some cousins. When the time comes, I may divide it among them, or bequeath it all to the worthiest. Or I might birth a bastard. No law exists anymore that would prevent such a child from inheriting. The world is changing, Lord Byron. Thirty years ago, a lady could not have survived on her own, but men have lately become quite superfluous.”
What I was thinking was that, if she no longer sought a prudent husband, she no longer had any reason to guard her chastity. “We remain necessary in at least one respect,” I said, and I rose from my seat and moved toward her.
“You'd be quite surprised,” she said. “There are techniques. And devices.”
“I'll wager a thousand pounds that my techniques are better than your techniques.”
“You haven't got a thousand pounds, Lord Byron.”
But when I reached out to touch her face, she let me. “I rather doubt you're entirely satisfied by your solitary life,” I said, brushing my fingers through her hair.
She smiled. “Are you offering to fix what's wrong with me?”
“I wouldn't want to leave again, without giving you a proper good-bye.”
“Very well,” she said. “I've no other plans for the next ten minutes.”
She stood with a smooth motion, and I drew my hand back. The steward held the glass door open as she walked back into her house. Her stride was long and supple and imperious.
I finished my drink, and then I followed her.
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I'd like to thank my agent, Victoria Skurnick, and foreign rights manager, Elizabeth Fisher at Levine Greenberg Rostan, for their continued dedication to the Buck Schatz books, and for helping me to sell this jarring deviation from what was expected of me. I'd also like to thank Lucy Stille at APA for selling the film rights to
Don't Ever Get Old
.
Thanks to my editor, Marcia Markland, her assistant, Quressa Robinson, publicity manager Hector DeJean, Thomas Dunne Books publisher Thomas Dunne, Minotaur Books publisher Andrew Martin, and associate editor Kat Brzozowski.
I'd also like to thank my mom, Elaine Friedman, my brother Jonathan Friedman, Grandma Margaret Friedman, and Bubbi Goldie Burson for all their love and support. Thanks as well to Rachel Friedman, baby Hannah Dove Friedman, Sheila and Steve Burkholz, Carole Burson, Skip and Susan Rossen, Stephen and Beth Rossen, David and Lindsey Rossen, Martin and Jenny Rossen, Scott Burkholz, Rachel Burkholz, Claire and Paul Putterman, Andrew Putterman and Matthew Putterman.
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DANIEL FRIEDMAN
is a graduate of the University of Maryland and NYU School of Law. He lives in New York City. His first novel,
Don't Ever Get Old,
was nominated for an Edgar Award and won a Macavity Award for Best First Novel. His second,
Don't Ever Look Back
, was also published to great acclaim by Thomas Dunne Books. You can sign up for email updates
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Contents
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
A Thomas Dunne Book for Minotaur Books.
An imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group.
RIOT MOST UNCOUTH.
Copyright © 2015 by Daniel Friedman. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Jacket design and photo-illustration by John Hamilton Design
Jacket photographs: bear © iStock.com/S-Eyerkaufer; Byron's body © DEA/Studio AB/Getty Images
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Friedman, Daniel, 1981-
    Riot most uncouth: a Lord Byron mystery / Daniel Friedman. â First edition.
        pages; cm
    ISBN 978-1-250-02759-7 (hardcover)
    ISBN 978-1-250-02758-0 (e-book)
  1. Private investigatorsâEnglandâFiction.  2.  MurderâInvestigationâFiction.  3.  Cambridge (England)âSocial life and customsâ19th centuryâFiction.  I.  Title.
    PS3606.R5566R56 2015
    813'.6âdc23
2015033767
e-ISBN 978-1-250-02758-0
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First Edition: December 2015