Imprudence Read online

  “Don’t tease, chérie.”

  “Don’t you want to know how well I remember said lessons?”

  “More than you could possibly imagine. But I’m not exactly capable of a full assessment at the moment.”

  Rue chuckled and relaxed down next to him. She did want to do more. But he was right: he was still recovering, and apparently, they would have the rest of their lives to pursue this particular line of study.

  He was drifting off. The lines of pain pulling on his face eased. The happiness remained.

  “You’ll sleep here?” He pulled her as close as he could with his good arm.

  Rue felt a spike of giddy joy. So he did want to sleep next to her. “All night?”

  “I promise not to snore if you promise not to turn into a wolf, or a lioness, or a mongoose, or any other odd supernatural thing next to me.”

  “Agreed,” said Rue.

  Author’s Note

  Place and street names in this book (when not entirely fictitious) are based on those listed in Amelia B. Edward’s A Thousand Miles Up the Nile (published in 1877) and written on maps of Africa from the 1890s. Spelling is authentic to the time period, e.g. Assûan, Wady Halfeh, Abu Hammed, and Khartoom.

  Acknowledgements

  This one is for my fans, with particular love to all who have taken time to reach out and connect with me over the years. You know who you are. You who started fan groups and helped moderate them; who wrote reviews and asked for interviews; who created costumes, artwork, and delicious baked goods – Skye, Ty, Ris, Katie, Stephen, Nicole, Dick, Jami, Clinton, Veronica, Angelica, Hannah, Claire, Christine, Amanda, Bethany, Miss K and the St Louis Parasol Girls, and so many more! Your support means everything. I feel like I have enjoyed life’s greatest gifts: to be blessed with many friends.

  You see, I have always written, but without you (yes, you with the eyeballs reading this now) I’m only a writer, not an author. When a reader takes time to reach out to me the circle completes and I know I’m not sending words out into an empty void.

  Thank you.

  BY GAIL CARRIGER

  The Parasol Protectorate

  Soulless

  Changeless

  Blameless

  Heartless

  Timeless

  The Custard Protocol

  Prudence

  Imprudence

  The Parasol Protectorate Manga

  Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 1

  Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 2

  Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 3

  The Finishing School

  Etiquette and Espionage

  Curtsies and Conspiracies

  Waistcoats and Weaponry

  Manners and Muting

  We hope you enjoyed this book.

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  Contents

  Cover

  Titlepage

  Welcome

  Chapter One: In Which Queen Victoria Is Not Amused

  Chapter Two: In Which Percy Proves Difficult and No One Is Surprised

  Chapter Three: In Which German Poetry Is Entirely Irrelevant

  Chapter Four: In Which the Maccon Family Is Quite Imprudent

  Chapter Five: In Which Rue Breaks Things

  Chapter Six: In Which Our Heroine Defeats a Picnic Hamper

  Chapter Seven: In Which a Voyage Is Afloat

  Chapter Eight: In Which There May, or May Not, Be French Lessons

  Chapter Nine: In Which Freckles Go on the Rampage

  Chapter Ten: Egypt

  Chapter Eleven: In Which Percy’s Unbearable Smugness Is Revealed

  Chapter Twelve: Up the Nile Without a Puff

  Chapter Thirteen: In Which Rue Learns About Antiquity

  Chapter Fourteen: Drifters Like Cats

  Chapter Fifteen: Coal and Consequences

  Chapter Sixteen: In Which Percy’s Cognac Proves Useful

  Chapter Seventeen: The Lost Pride of the Desert Wind

  Chapter Eighteen: Killing Cousins

  Chapter Nineteen: Affairs and Affaires in Order

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgements

  By Gail Carriger

  Orbit Newsletter

  Copyright

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Tofa Borregard

  Cover design by Lauren Panepinto

  Type design by Chad Roberts

  Cover illustration by Don Sipley/Michael Roberts

  Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Orbit

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  Simultaneously published in Great Britain and in the U.S. by Orbit in 2016

  First Edition: July 2016

  Orbit is an imprint of Hachette Book Group.

  The Orbit name and logo are trademarks of Little, Brown Book Group Limited.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to www.hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936829

  ISBNs: 978-0-316-21221-2 (hardcover), 978-0-316-54644-7 (Barnes and Noble signed edition), 978-0-316-21219-9 (ebook)

  E3-20160610-JV-PC