Page 3 of Diana Adores the Puzzled Duke

Cecil tapped a pencil on his desktop. “You know, historically, there was another fine gentleman like yourself who was in your exact samesituation.”

“Yes, and who might thatbe?”

“The Seventeenth Earl of Oxford—Edward de Vere. It was said he was quite the scholar and well educated. He was well traveled, erudite, and widely read. It was known that he had a great interest in the theater and desperately wanted to write plays for Globe Theatre, but her Majesty Elizabeth absolutely forbid it, insisting it was inappropriate for a gentleman of his station. However, he was known at court under the name ofSpear-shaker. And it has been widely speculated that he took on the name of Shakespeare and used that name to author what we know today as the Shakespeare plays and sonnets. There is no proof of this, but his situation should still stand as a model for yourconsideration.”

“Yes, now that you mention it, I believe I have heard the samestory.”

“I do not know how amenable you might be to what I will propose, but I think it might be your bestsolution.”

“And that wouldbe?”

“We have a number of lesser known authors on our books. Their works regularly sell, but not spectacularly. Our suggestion is that you approach several different authors that we will suggest and sound them out about being a surrogateauthor.”

“I am not sure Iunderstand.”

“Find an author whose name you can publish your book under. They already have an audience and a following. And if your book is successful, they will benefit by having a new best seller, and you can get your work published and remain anonymous. Of course, you will need to make the arrangement worth theirwhile.”

“And how might that work?” Robert asked, interested but still a littleskeptical.

“Since you will be using their name, you will need to compensate them in some manner. My suggestion would be a generous percentage of the royalties you might make on the book’ssales.”

“I would have no problem with that idea. Money is not a concern for me. I have found I really love being an author and I want to write and publish more. So, I am looking to form a long-term relationship with thisindividual.”

“But there is one other consideration…” Ceciladded.

“Yes?”

“I feel quite certain the author you choose would wish to continue with their writing as well. There would need to be some sort of arrangement forthat.”

“But what if our styles and content differ greatly?” Robertasked.

“That is certainly a consideration,” Cecil said thoughtfully. “We would need to give that some thought and come up with a solution. But first, we need to know if you think this arrangement might work foryou?”

Robert stood and looked out Cecil’s office window at the street below with its hustle of carriages and bustle ofpedestrians.

“Yes, I believe it might.” He turned and addressed Cecil once again. “Have you communicated this idea to any of the authors you will besuggesting?”

“We have not. Discretion seems to be the best strategy here if you wish to remain anonymous. Our thought was that you visit each candidate personally and make whatever arrangement you wish with the author you choose. It is imperative that your arrangement be as private as possible. Would you notagree?”

Robert sighed. “It all seems quite ridiculous to me that I even need to do this, but if it must be, then discretion is certainly calledfor.”

“Excellent,” Cecil said, rising from his desk. “I shall have a list of appropriate authors drawn up for you and will send it to you in the next couple ofdays.”

“And once agreements are concluded then you will move forward with publishing mybook?”

“It will be our greatest pleasure. And I foresee a great success for allconcerned.”