Welcome, Ian and Vangie. Do make yourselves comfortable. Would you care for any tea? A shortbread biscuit or Maid of Honor tart perhaps? Just push the dachshunds aside.
Vangie: I’d love some tea and a shortbread biscuit, please. I’ve never been able to resist them.
Ian: Nothing for me, thank you. (He lifts a dachshund off the sofa.)
Can you please tell us how you met?
Vangie: It was at the Armstrong’s Ball. We had just been introduced, and Ian asked me to dance. I was so grateful to be spared Lord Pickering’s unwanted attention, I eagerly agreed, though Ian was looking a bit fierce.
Ian: Fierce? I don’t think I was fierce. Remember, Sweeting, I’d just lost my brother and father.
Vangie: Ian, you reminded me of a panther. If you’d had a tail, it would have been lashing back and forth, you were so agitated.
So you met at a ball. Was it love at first sight?
Ian: Oh, I was entranced from the moment I set my eyes upon her, but it wasn’t love. At that time, I thought she was responsible for my brother’s and father’s deaths. There was something about Vangie though that stirred me in a way I’d never experienced before.
Vangie: Ian made me nervous. He was so stern, but when became ill during our dance, he was such a gentleman; helping me off the dance floor, then caring for me when I fainted.
Yes, I recall the fainting incident caused quite a stir.
Ian: (Sighing, and running a hand through his hair.) Not my best moment. She was struggling to breathe, but I should never have been alone in the ladies’ retiring room with her.
Vangie: I don’t recall what happened, but I do know several of the ton’speeresses were only too eager to defame me. They disdain my Romani heritage.
But you’re a Romani, a gypsy princess and the daughter of a baronet!
Vangie: True, but the haut ton isn’t known for being inclusive.
What was the most difficult thing for you to overcome in your relationship?
Ian: I was a fool. I listened to gossip about Vangie instead of uncovering the truth myself. It nearly cost me my wife. Not only did I have to earn her trust and forgiveness, I had to forgive myself for being an arrogant ass.
Vangie, how about you?
Vangie: I forgave Ian for the misconceptions about me when we were first married. (She shrugs here.) He made a mistake, as do we all. But when learned we might not truly be married, that he had deceived me in that, my heart broke. I wanted nothing more to do with the English.
Ian: Yes, I had much to atone for. (He takes her hand and looks into her eyes.)
Vangie, can you tell us one thing about Ian that no one else knows?
Vangie: He adores peach pie-no actually, it’s the crust he adores.
Something about Vangie, Ian?
Ian: She wears a dagger strapped to her thigh. Oh, wait you know that. She’s quite fond of strawberries. (He waggles his eyebrows here.)
(Laughing) I’m not sure I want to know anymore. When did you know you loved each other?
Ian: When we were attacked by highwaymen, and she saved my life.
Vangie: At Somersfield, when he returned from chasing his wayward sister. He was so charming. How could I resist?
So, what’s next for you?
Ian: I’ll continue building a superb line of horseflesh. I quite enjoyed my time in the Romani camp and am petitioning the House of Lords to guarantee the some rights.
Vangie: Oh, I do want to pursue my painting, and we’ve a trip planned to Scotland to visit Ewan and Yvette. (She glances at Ian.) The last we’d heard, Adaira, she’s Ewan’s sister, had gotten herself into a bit of mischief.
Ian: (Chuckling.) A bit? She locked the Earl of Clarendon in the dungeon for three days.
And speaking of Adaira and Roark, Thursday and Friday, I’m sharing excerpts from Highlander’s Hope and my latest book, The Earl’s Enticement that depicts the same scene…Roark’s release from the dungeon.
