Chapters Eleven & Twelve…

… Have been added. Look for the next chapters soon. My sincere apologies for not adding the new chapters weekly. The novel sat on an old computer, and the only way it could be retrieved is with a primitive method. I have not had time to reformat the chapters, which is a laborious process. Please [...]

01 – Chapter One

Sussex, England
March 1813
James Cavendish, sixth Earl of Downsley, stood frozen in the doorway of the woodcutter’s cottage. The sight of the young woman undressing struck him with such physical force, he felt the air leave his lungs. He had stumbled upon the small hovel while seeking shelter from a sudden storm, and it [...]

02 – Chapter Two

Amanda Sinclair eyed the dark-haired stranger with a mixture of anger and apprehension. Anger won out, and she shot him a quelling look, daring him to come closer.
Given her rotten day thus far, the man’s appearance shouldn’t have surprised her. The storm had materialized out of nowhere, and she had found shelter only after she’d [...]

03 – Chapter Three

“Oh, Papa! “That awful man tried to kill Rascal.” Amanda ran to her father, oblivious to the shocked stares of the three men at the doorway and her state of dishabille.
When informed that his daughter was missing, Michael Sinclair had set out with his friend, Reverend George Abernathy, and two servants to search for her. [...]

04 – Chapter Four

The storm had subsided, leaving only a mild drizzle in its wake. Thunder clapped from a far distance, and overhead a fresh breeze chased the remaining clouds away. As James neared Downsley Hall, the woods thinned substantially. Trimmed of undergrowth by roaming cattle, the forest resembled a light, airy park. Colorful drifts of narcissus and [...]

05 – Chapter Five

The thunderous storm that had swept over the South Downs had cleansed the hills with its refreshing rains. Rosewood Manor stood high on a promontory surrounded by a sea of wet, glistening fields, its whitewashed bricks glowing in ghostly iridescence under a full moon.
An hour after the evening’s meal, Michael Sinclair sat secluded in his [...]

06 – Chapter Six

Amanda traversed through Rosewood Manor’s vaulted gallery, renowned for its collection of master paintings. Shafts of golden sunlight illuminated the long hallway, casting intricate shadows on the parquet floor, but she was oblivious to the light’s magical effects, and of the fragrant scent of apple blossoms drifting through the open windows.
Pausing in front of the [...]

07 – Chapter Seven

The yellow parlor was a sumptuous yet cozy room. Although Amanda normally loved its cheery atmosphere, she felt she would never be able to enter it again without remembering the earl’s icy proposal. She moved restlessly through the high-ceilinged, oval interior, smelling the fragrant bouquet of lilacs that graced the central round table, and touching [...]

08 – Chapter Eight

“Miss Amanda are you certain you want to wear this faded old dress?” Amanda’s maid, Daisy, held up a drab, outdated walking dress of an indeterminate color. “I thought you had tossed it in the charity bin ages ago.”
“Obviously I’ve changed my mind, Daisy. There’s still a lot of wear left in that old rag, [...]

10 – Chapter Ten

“How dare you go riding without me!” Amanda turned her full fury on the earl. Still dressed in her emerald green riding habit, she had spent the past several hours pacing up and down her sittingroom before coming down to the drawingroom to confront him. “I have never been treated so cavalierly by anyone in [...]

12 – Chapter Twelve

“Good afternoon, my lord,” Rosewood Manor’s butler said in a dignified voice. Soames’s respect for Lord Downsley had increased each time he encountered the earl.
In Soames’s estimation, the Earl of Downsley was Quality with a capital Q. Miss Amanda’s careless treatment of him ruffled the staid butler’s sense of propriety. Blood will tell, and Miss [...]