What Will You Bid?

Several years ago, someone I knew was involved in a fundraiser that included the auctioning off of a date with some of Dallas's most eligible bachelors. It was quite the extravaganza and something I filed away as “idea for a future story.”

Of course, I always thought that I would write the story using a modern setting. But then I ran across a Victorian-era political cartoon that depicted an old, crotchety looking fellow--obviously an aristocrat--kneeling before a young, haughty woman. The caption read, “American heiresses, what will you bid?”

It was making sport of the American obsession with the British nobility. American mamas wanted their daughters to marry English lords. Changing times had caused some of the nobility to fall into an impoverished state and many lords were only too happy to provide these ladies with a title in exchange for a nice settlement from their fathers.

I began playing the what-if game. What if a penniless aristocrat didn't want to bother with courtship? What if an American father was tired of his wife's obsession with marrying off a daughter to a peer--and just wanted to get the whole matter over with? What if there were several fathers tired of this whole “finding the proper husband for their daughters” business?

And so a modern-day fundraiser and a more-than-a-hundred-years-old political cartoon merged into a story idea that became JUST WICKED ENOUGH. Michael Tremayne, the 4th Marquess of Falconridge, holds an exclusive, private auction and auctions off his hand in marriage to the American fathers offering the best settlement. Unfortunately, he finds himself betrothed to the one daughter he'd hoped not to marry. Headstrong Kate Rose wants love--and Michael who'd hoped for the easy path to riches will discover that nothing worth having comes easily. And Kate is worth having.

I once won a quilt that was being auctioned to raise funds for literacy and have enjoyed the quilt so much. Have you ever participated in an auction? Did you get the item you wanted? Afterward, did you think the item was worth it?

Lorraine Heath