Download or read book Wicked Scandal Regency Sinners 3 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2017-08-31 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wicked Scandal is the 3rd book in USA Today Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, Amazon #1 Regency Sinners series. Author’s Note: All the books in the very sexy Regency Sinners series are complete and HEA stories. The stories are connected by the friendship of the eight heroes. Lord Sebastian Trentham, Marquis of Deveril, known to his close acquaintances as Devil, is the third of the eight gentlemen known as The Sinners, tasked with discovering which of eight ladies in Society has been acting as a spy for Napoleon. He is expected to do this by fair means or foul. Alys doesn’t know whether to be distressed or angry when her brother informs her he has invited the Marquis of Deveril, along with several other of his male acquaintances, to join him for a weeklong shoot at their manor house in Worcestershire. The last time the marquis visited Alys’s home, she discovered him with a pistol in his hand as he stood over the dead body of her father. Devil is not looking forward to returning to Newcomb Manor and only accepted Sir Teddy Newcomb’s invitation because of the need to clear Alys Newcomb’s name of any wrongdoing. Not that she would thank Devil for it if she knew that was his intention. Alys believes she has every reason to dislike and distrust him, and nothing Devil says or does will convince her otherwise. From the minute the two of them meet again, sexual tension flares into life and refuses to be extinguished. Much as Alys might fight against it. When circumstances force the two of them into a hasty betrothal that sexual attraction flares out of control. But if Devil didn’t kill Alys’s father, then the real murderer must still be at large…

Download or read book Wayward Regency Scandal 3 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2021-07-30 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WAYWARD (Regency Scandal 3) is the third story in Carole Mortimer’s Amazon #1 Regency series. Carole is a USA Today Bestselling Author, Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, and an International Bestselling author. She has written over 265 romance novels in the Contemporary, Historical and Paranormal genres. Carole is the recipient of the Romantic Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award. Was awarded a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in 2017. An Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Romance Author—ever. She is a 2014 Romantic Times Pioneer of Romance. She was also recognized by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012, for her “outstanding service to literature”. Gideon Rhodes, the Duke of Esher. Gideon felt a heavy weight in his chest as he watched a coach approaching down the long driveway to his Cornish estate, the home where he had retreated ten years ago after being ostracised by Society following the sudden death of his wife. Then two weeks ago he had received a letter from a solicitor telling him that he was now the guardian of nineteen-year-old Lady Lydia Montague, the daughter of his one-time friend, Lord Michael Montague, the Earl of Chessington. Quite what Gideon is to do with that young woman, once she is residing in his household with him, he has no idea. Until he sees her for the first time and knows that the only thing he desires of Lydia is to have her beneath him, in his bed, as he claims her for his own. Lady Lydia Montague. She had never even heard of the Gideon Rhodes before her father’s solicitor informed her the duke was to be her guardian now that her father had succumbed to the wounds he had received during the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately, once it became public knowledge Lydia was to be Esher’s ward until her twenty-first birthday, she was bombarded with information about the man. Rumour said he had been a cruel husband. That he had murdered his wife. That he was now a scarred recluse living in the wilds of Cornwall. All Lydia knew of him for certain was that she was to be his ward and live with him for the next two years. Then she sees him for the first time. Gideon is tall, dark, and indeed scarred. He also causes her pulse to race, her body to heat, and she can think of nothing but the two of them naked together, their limbs and bodies entwined. The moment Gideon looks at her his eyes seem to darken with that same desire. But what of his dead wife? Is it possible Gideon did kill her? And if he did, will Lydia receive the same fate if she allows the attraction between them to deepen?

Download or read book Wicked Christmas Regency Sinners 8 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2018-10-12 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wicked Christmas is the 8th and last book in USA Today Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, all Amazon #1 Regency Sinners series. It is also her 240th published book. Author’s Note: The 8th book in the series promises to be just as steaming hot as the previous ones—after all, there will be SEVEN red-hot heroes, all intent on enjoying the Christmas Season of 1816 with their equally passionate wives. The Sinners have all gathered in Kent at the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Stonewell, and the house is full of adults and children enjoying a time of joy and happiness, but most of all peace, following all they suffered through together the previous year. But peace has never been something the Sinners have been able to enjoy for very long, and in amongst falling in love, marrying, and having their children, they had forgotten to account for the one person they had believed to be insignificant but who was in fact as much responsible for Napoleon’s escape from Elba the previous year, and the battles and deaths that followed, as the person who was hanged for the crime. Will the Sinners discover their mistake in time or will another one of them suffer the devastation of losing someone they love?

Download or read book Hidden Passion Regency Men in Love 3 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2024-05-31 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: HIDDEN PASSION (Regency Men in Love 3) is the third book in the quartet of MM Regency Romances, written by #1 International Bestselling Author Carole Mortimer as C A MORTIMER. Each book features a different couple and can be read as a standalone, but characters from previous books in the series may make an appearance or are mentioned. Hidden Passion features Wulfram Edmund Fitzherbert, the haughty and stern Duke of Wulferston, and the cheeky and outspoken Billy Brown. When the irrepressible Billy Brown accepts a temporary position in the household of the austere Duke of Wulferston, he does so fully aware that his attraction to the much older duke will never be reciprocated. Wulf is a man of experience and sophistication, a member of parliament and a magistrate, and yet the life of respectability he has deliberately built for himself ceases to be important when it comes to the desire he feels to make the irrepressible Billy Brown his own. But all it not as it seems in the duke’s household, and it falls to Billy to expose the person responsible. Will Wulf believe him, or will he assume, given Billy’s circumstances, that Billy himself is to blame?

Download or read book Bryce Steele Protectors 3 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2019-06-28 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BRYCE (Steele Protectors 3) is the 3rd book in USA Today and Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, NEW Contemporary Romantic Suspense series. Author’s Note: Beware of the very sexy & very alpha Steele brothers. These books are HOT! When Bella told her family and friends of her career choice they called her a traitor and turned their backs on her, including the brother she adored. Why? Because no one in the Zalotti family becomes a cop! Bella had never wanted any part of the family business, especially as that business was running the Italian mafia in London. She wasn’t stupid enough to join the force under her real name, but has nevertheless lived in fear of someone discovering exactly who she is and bringing that career to an abrupt end, possibly by putting her in a pine box. But it’s been five years now and she’s still alive, still a cop. Then a few weeks ago she started receiving threats, in letters and spray paint on her car. Out of desperation she calls her brother, the first time they’ve spoken in years, but Matteo denies all knowledge of any threats, and refuses to help her. Bella met Bryce Steele several weeks ago while guarding his stepsister, Jenna, after she was abducted and beaten. In fact Bryce asked Bella out on a date at the time and then didn’t show up. But Bella has done some research on Bryce since then, and she’s sure, with his ex-special forces background and underworld connections, he’s the one man who can help her discover who’s threatening her and why. Unfortunately to do that she’ll have to tell him her real name and why she believes these death threats are real. Next Book in series – ROURKE (Steele Protectors 4)

Download or read book Benedict s Challenge Regency Club Venus 3 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2020-05-29 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Benedict’s Challenge (Regency Club Venus 3) is the 3rd book in Amazon #1 & USA Today Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, hot new historical romance series, Regency Club Venus. Lord Benedict Winter knows what those in Society think of him. Of their disapproval of his having studied and become a physician. They are even more shocked that he uses his skill, not just to treat the poor but also to care for the ladies of Club Venus, a house of ill-repute owned by one of his closest friends. Not disapproving enough to ban him from entering their homes of course, because he is, after all, one of the wealthiest gentleman in England. Having shunned all attempts to entice him into the Marriage Mart, many in Society also believe Benedict to be a cold and arrogant man, with no emotion to give. His close friends know better. As they also know of the secret he has kept for so long… In the circumstances, the very last thing Benedict needs or wants is to meet and instantly be attracted to Chloe, a young woman he discovers residing in another man’s home. Chloe has lost everyone dear to her. Her parents. The brother she adored. All gone. And in their place she now lives in the home of a man who despises her and takes every opportunity to make those feelings known to her. Lord Benedict Winter sweeps in like a breath of fresh air into the stultifying life Chloe is now forced to lead. But he blows hot and cold, one moment making his desire for her known and the next putting her at arms’ length and insisting he is not the man for her to build her dreams upon. But dreams, Chloe quickly discovers, have a will and determination of their own.

Download or read book Surrender Regency Lovers 5 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2019-05-10 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SURRENDER (Regency Lovers 5) is the 5th book in Amazon #1 & USA Today Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, historical romance series, Regency Lovers. Author’s note: This book is a #MayDecember steaming HOT Regency romance A month after being kidnapped, rescued, and returned to her family, eighteen-year-old Miss Clara Catchpole is still recovering from her terrifying ordeal. No longer the young and frivolous Miss she once was, there is now only one person Clara wishes to see and be with, and that is Lord Ezra Stone, her rescuer and a man twenty years her senior. Unfortunately, for Clara, that gentleman’s company proves to be as elusive as he is taciturn. Ezra is aware of Miss Clara Catchpole in a way he has not been with any other woman, but his age and the events of his past make it impossible for him to pursue her, even when he knows he is hurting Clara with his seeming disinterest. She is young, he decides, and will recover from what can only be her infatuation with him. He is able to maintain that distance between them until those events from his past once again intrude on the quiet life he has made for himself. Faced with the dilemma of ensuring Clara’s safety or protecting his own heart, Ezra knows there is only one choice he can make. Keeping Clara safe is all that matters to him. Will these two mismatched people find happiness together or will Ezra’s past tear them apart?

Download or read book Viktor Russian Dragon Heat 3 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2021-10-29 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: VIKTOR (Russian Dragon Heat 3) is the third book in the Amazon #1 Russian Dragon Heat paranormal series. These stories have passion and danger, with the occasional visit from characters in my previous dragon shifter series, Dragon Hearts. As a 600-year-old Russian dragon shifter, Viktor has accepted his fate is to be alone until he reaches the end of his very long life. At least he had, until two of his brothers recently found their fated mates. Still, he was only flying over the island that day on his way to somewhere else, before he sensed her. His fated mate, the one woman meant for him. She was down there, on an island he discovered was full of myth and legend, with a history of wrecked Viking ships, and a bridge where the locals waved to the fairies ‘for luck’ as they passed over it and visitors made wishes. A land from which, when Viktor landed as dragon on the top of the island’s only mountain, he was able to see the Seven Kingdom of this Isle of Man. The island itself. Scotland. Ireland. England. Wales. The sky. And lastly the Irish sea, ruled over by the mythical Celtic god, Manannan. Surely if any woman could accept the existence of dragon shifters, could accept him as her mate, it would be one from this unique and magical island?

Download or read book Sinful Regency Scandal 4 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2021-11-26 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SINFUL (Regency Scandal 4) is the fourth story in Carole Mortimer’s #1 #Bestselling series. Carole is a USA Today Bestselling Author, Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, and an International Bestselling author. She has written over 270 romance novels in the Contemporary, Historical and Paranormal genres. Having suffered through yet another Season without, at the age of one and twenty, becoming betrothed or engaged to any of the vacuous young fops of Society, Lady Olivia Buchan is sent to stay with her mother’s cousin and her husband on their island home for the summer months. After which, Olivia is to go and live quietly at the family’s country estate in the wilds of Yorkshire, well away from London Society, and any possibility of her unmarried status ruining her two younger sisters’ future chances of a betrothal and marriage. What her mother couldn’t have known when she sent Olivia away is that three of His Majesty’s ships and their crews are currently visiting the island, at the behest of the Prince Regent, as his representatives during the island’s summer celebrations. Those ships are under the command of the tall and imposing Admiral Lord Magnus Forsythe, the Earl of Rockborne. A gentleman known to be a hero during the long years of sea battles against the French. One look at this haughtily magnificent and the unmarried Rockborne and Olivia knows exactly why none of London’s pretentious young men have ever appealed to her. They could never compete with such mature and masculine perfection. Unfortunately, Rockborne takes that same look at Olivia and thereafter attempts to avoid her company. But Olivia, having seen the only man she could ever consider taking as her husband, will not be deterred so easily. Not even when a scandal from Magnus’s past, involving her own family, is revealed.

Download or read book Gabriel s Torment Regency Club Venus 2 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2020-02-21 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gabriel’s Torment (Regency Club Venus 2) is the 2nd book in Amazon #1 & USA Today Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, hot new Regency romance series, Regency Club Venus. For the past five years Gabriel Templeton, the Duke of Blackborne, has been the owner of Club Venus, the high class brothel in London. When not running the club Gabriel continues to search for his sister who was cast off by their father almost twenty years ago, pregnant and alone, and has never seen again since. Young Vic Tyrone was born on the dirty streets of London and will no doubt die there too, sooner rather than later. Seeing and speaking to the handsome Duke of Blackborne, as he strolls by on the way to his club every evening, is the single brightness in days and nights that are all too often dark with the despair of poverty. Gabriel very much enjoys his daily exchanges with Vic, the cheeky imp who sells fruit or flowers on the street corner near Club Venus. But when Vic isn’t in his usual spot for two days in a row Gabriel becomes concerned and goes in search of him in the Rookery, the most dangerous slum in all of London. When he finds the boy Vic is sitting silent and numb, the body of his dead mother having been consigned to a pauper’s grave that morning. Deciding to take the devastated Vic home with him, and sending for his friend and doctor, Lord Benedict Winter, to attend the lad, reveals a secret that totally stuns Gabriel. Vic isn’t a boy at all but a young woman! Undecided as to what to do next, it isn’t the time for a woman from Gabriel’s past to seek vengeance on the people he cares for.

Download or read book Forbidden Regency Lovers 4 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2019-02-28 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FORBIDDEN (Regency Lovers 4) is the 4th book in Amazon #1 & USA Today Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, historical romance series, Regency Lovers. Author’s note: The books in the Regency Lovers series are steaming hot. You have been warned! They met in fire, burning with a passion for each other, but when the truth is known will their love turn to ashes? Eleven years ago Lord Zachary Noble, the Earl of Harrogate, was involved in a scandal which rocked Society. It resulted in the loss of his reputation and being ostracized and held in contempt by those who mattered to him. His best friend. His family. No woman would even consider marrying him. All of it gone because of the false accusation levelled at him by a young woman he barely knew. All these years later Zachary’s good name has at last been restored to him after the real culprit is finally found and punished for the crime. Lady Rissa Spencer is very like her father, Magnus, the Duke of Weston, in that she is both determined and steadfast once she sets her very stubborn mind on something, or someone. And she has set her heart on Zachary. Zachary appreciates that Rissa is beautiful, as well as vivacious and intelligent, but she is also the very last woman he should ever allow himself to fall in love with. Nor will Rissa wish for his love once she becomes aware that the scandal in Zachary’s past is connected to her family and the stepmother she adores. Unfortunately the past has a way of intruding into the present, and when it seems Rissa’s very life might be in danger, Zachary is determined to protect her. No matter what the cost.

Download or read book Indecent Regency Lovers 1 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2018-09-05 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 26,000 word novella was previously published in A Regency Duo by Carole Mortimer & Angelique Armae. There have been no changes or additions from the original novella. INDECENT (Regency Lovers 1) is the 1st book in USA Today Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, NEW Regency series. Impoverished Miss Emma Harris can hardly believe her good fortune when Adam Stirling, the handsome and imposing Duke of Hawkwood, asks her father for her hand in marriage. However, she feels thoroughly humiliated when she attends a masked ball that very same evening and sees Hawkwood in a compromising position with a married woman. A very compromising position, in fact it is positively INDECENT. Angry and upset, Emma confronts Hawkwood with what she saw, accusing him of only wanting to marry her as a shield to his affairs with other women. Accusations the duke denies. Half in love with the arrogant Hawkwood, Emma is devastated when she learns the real reason he asked her to marry him. But if Emma thinks Adam is the type of gentleman to meekly accept her rejection, she is about to learn exactly how INDECENT he can be when he wants something as deeply as he now wants Emma.

Download or read book Leon Dance with the Devil 2 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2020-09-25 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LEON (Dance with the Devil 2) is the second book in USA Today and Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, NEW Contemporary Romance series, Dance with the Devil. Author’s Note: These books are HOT. There may also be some violence – these are very bad men! Carla Andretti swore off men a year ago, all men, when she came home unexpectedly and found her then boyfriend in their bed with another woman. She is not, most definitely not, going to even think about getting involved with Leon Brunelli, a man who is not only eighteen years older than her but also the most powerful Mafia don in New York. Leon has been on his own since his wife died giving birth to their daughter twenty years ago. Why marry again when beautiful women are lining up to be with him. Except… Those women are attracted to the power he wields rather than the man. Which has never bothered him. Until he meets spitfire Carla Andretti, and she makes it very clear she isn’t impressed, by him being the ruthless head of the New York Mafia or the power that gives him. Leon isn’t accustomed to being told no. Carla doesn’t trust herself to say yes. When Leon channels all his power into seducing Carla into his bed she finds it more and more difficult to resist. Who will win their battle of wills? Or will they both win?

Download or read book Matteo Dance with the Devil 1 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2020-06-26 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MATTEO (Dance with the Devil 1) is the first book in USA Today and Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, NEW Contemporary Romance series, Dance with the Devil. Author’s Note: These books are HOT. There may also be some violence – these are very bad men! Matteo Zalotti has won the battle to regain control of his London mafia empire. Now he intends to confirm his place with the other mafia families around the world by marrying the only daughter of the New York mafia don, Luca Brunelli. The very last thing Matteo needs right now is to take one look at the prim and proper Grace Morrissy and be driven almost insane with the desire and longing to take her and make her his own. Matteo Zalotti isn’t like any other man Grace has ever met. He’s so much more. More handsome. More wealthy. More powerful. More intense. More dangerous. Everything about the man, from his glittering blue eyes, expertly tousled dark hair, bespoke suits, and handmade Italian leather shoes, sends out red warning signals. But that warning is a temptation in itself for someone who has always lived by the rules. Ultimately, it proves to be a danger Grace can’t resist. But no one crosses Luca Brunelli and lives. Not even Matteo Zalotti.

Download or read book Lucan Steele Protectors 6 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2020-03-27 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LUCAN (Steele Protectors 6) is the last book in USA Today and Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, ALL Amazon #1 Bestselling Contemporary Romantic Suspense series, Steele Protectors. Author’s Note: Beware of the very sexy & very alpha Steele brothers. These books are HOT! Eight years ago Rachel Ford was put into the Witness Protection programme after her parents were killed and her sister later died in a car crash. Her name isn’t her own. England isn’t her birthplace. The only people she has in her life even remotely close to calling family is the couple, friends of her mother, who fostered her until she was eighteen. At least, that’s what Rachel has always believed… When Lucan Steele is tasked with protecting Rachel Ford, an art historian working in a London museum, he decides the best way to do that is to take her to a safe house until the danger has passed. Turns out Rachel isn’t the staid historian Lucan had been expecting. Instead she’s beautiful, fiery and sensual, and exactly the sort of unpredictable woman Lucan doesn’t need in his life after his years in the military left him scarred, both inside and out. So much so that Lucan doesn’t believe any woman could ever accept the things he did in his past. But as Lucan quickly discovers, Rachel isn’t like other women, and the heated attraction between the two of them becomes too intense for either of them to deny any longer. But Lucan’s past, whether or not the two of them could ever have a future together, might not matter when Rachel learns what really happened eight years ago…

Download or read book Rourke Steele Protectors 4 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2019-09-20 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Single, charming, sophisticated and wealthy, Rourke Steele has zero interest in falling in love or having a relationship. He’d decided that long before the young and beautiful Sophie Hammond walked into his life three years ago. He has the perfect life, working for the security company owned by all six of the Steele brothers, and dating and bedding as many beautiful women as he wants. Why ruin that by settling for one woman? What does it matter if every time he sees Sophie Hammond he wants to drag her off to his bed and do wicked things to that delectable body? It just means he’s a normal red-blooded man, right? Wrong. Because when Sophie is attacked at a wedding they are both attending Rourke doesn’t hesitate to step in and defend her. To hell with his usual charm and sophistication, Sophie is his, damn it. His! Falling instantly and irrevocably in love with one of her six bosses probably wasn’t the wisest thing Sophie had ever done. It wasn’t the worst thing she had ever done either. No, that prize went to trying to sort out her father’s mess without alerting any of the Steele brothers, but most especially Rourke, to what was going on. Something that is no longer an option when she’s attacked while attending the wedding of Logan Steele, Rourke’s twin brother, and Rourke is the one who comes to her rescue. Grateful as she is for that intervention Sophie has no intention of allowing Rourke to just step in and try to take over her life. Never mind that his kisses make her head spin and her knees weak. She’s a big girl and can take care of her own mess, thank you very much. Fireworks will ignite the sky and inanimate objects fly before these two stubborn people admit to their feelings for each other. Author’s Note: Beware of the very sexy & very alpha Steele brothers. These books are HOT!

Download or read book The Ghost Ruthless Regency Dukes 6 written by Carole Mortimer and published by Carole Mortimer. This book was released on 2024-01-31 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE GHOST (Ruthless Regency Dukes 6) is the sixth and final book in USA Today and Amazon International #1 Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, latest Regency series. Six Dukes, bound together by their friendship and loyalty. When one of them is murdered, the five friends remaining are each given the task of investigating one of the five officers suspected of being responsible for the killing. The man had been prisoner for so long he no longer had any idea whether it was night or day. The room where he was being kept was below ground and had no windows. It was bare of all comforts except for a pile of dirty and lice infected straw in one corner and a single blanket to cover himself with during the worst of the cold. He had tried, at first, to keep track of time, but as the days, weeks, months passed, they had all merged together. The monotony was broken only by the haphazard delivery of a plate of the most basic of foods and a jug of water by a surly and silent man whose clothes appeared to be as ragged as his own. The smelly bucket in the corner of the room was removed only once a week. The last thing he remembered, before waking in this hellhole, he had been deeply entrenched in the battle at Waterloo. He recalled being run through with a sword, and then struck on the head. Since then, there had only been this room, the pain as his wound oozed an unpleasant pus before finally healing, near starvation, and the bone-deep cold. At first, he had been sure his friends would find him, and he would be rescued from this living hell. But he no longer held out that hope, knowing they must all believe him to be dead. He had been abandoned, and was now forgotten. Even, it seemed, by the woman he had loved so deeply he would gladly have given his life for her. Had she mourned him? Cried for his loss? Or had she moved on when all hope had been lost? One thing he knew, when he was free, and he was determined he would escape, all who had wronged him would suffer the full measure of his fury.