To Have & to Hold

Reformed Rakes

This is our second episode in our trilogy on Patricia Gaffney’s Wyckerley series. Published in September 1995, To Have & to Hold is the story of Sebastian Verlaine, the new Viscount D’Aubrey and Rachel Wade, an outsider to Wyckerley. Rachel, until very recently, had been incarcerated for ten years for killing her abusive husband. Sebastian and Rachel meet in strange circumstances for a romance novel: she is being arraigned for vagrancy, having no place to live after her release from prison, and Sebastian, in his new role as viscount is one of the magistrates overlooking this procedure. Sebastian is immediately struck by Rachel’s story and appearance and rather than have her sent back to prison, he offers to employ her as his housekeeper. But do not mistake this act as one of beneficence—he makes it clear that he has less honorable intentions toward Rachel. Join us on a fraught journey as we discuss prison, justice, and redemption.

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