We return to 67 Clarges Street during yet another London Season, and of course our favorite staff, led by Rainbird, the smartest butler in all the land. The new tenant (the titular “Rake”) is Lord Guy Carlton, recently back from the Napoleonic Wars. Apparently he’s seen some shit, and is ready to do what he can to forget. Of course, this is Regency London, so it’s it’s not like he’s doing meth and picking up hookers.
But he’s doing the equivalent, sort of. It mostly involves champagne and flirtations with ladies. And definitely not settling down and getting married. He’s paying the staff well, and taking excellent care of them. But they see the pain behind the party, and decide they need to help him by finding him a nice young lady to settle down with.
Enter Miss Esther Jones, incredibly wealthy and incredibly uptight. Like, crazy uptight. So Rainbird sets to work on each of them, engineering mishaps and meetings until things fall into place, as they always do in these stories. And that’s all right with me.
