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Chapter 1

June 1851

The road to Wexmoor Manor, Devon

Antoinette Dupre closed her eyes behind her spectacles, shielding theh the trees Not far to go now Lord Rudyard Appleby’s hhich was one reason she was riding in a coach instead of traveling by steam train

The other reason was that she was a prisoner

She didn’t want to go but she had no choice; she was completely in the power of Lord Appleby And theabout that was she’d finally discovered a way to destroy him once and for all, but before she could put her plan into practice, he had sent her away into deepest Devon, to his house, Wexmoor Manor

She put a hand to her bodice, feeling the reassuring crackle of paper The letter was still there, safe Her ticket to freedoer sister, Cecilia

Thinking of Cecilia made her ser than Antoinette, would think this a great adventure—traveling alone in a coach to an unknown destination—but then Cecilia, tall and fair and vivacious, was very different frolossy brown hair and brown eyes, was by nature serious and rather bossy and took her responsibilities to heart Always as neat as a pin, still she struggled with a figure that was definitelyunkind—than the fashionable ideal of slender and y She did have one weakness, a compulsion she couldn’t seem to resist and which she bla Charles II Fine undergarments Silk and lace and satin, frilly and feminine Sometimes she wondered what it would be like, to hold a ive yourself over entirely to the sensual side But, as it seemed unlikely Antoinette would ever know the answers to those questions, she contented herself with indulging in her secret wicked pleasure

She took off her spectacles and pressed her fingers to her eyes

The worst of it was she had no one to talk to, no one to trust Cecilia was safely tucked away in Surrey with her governess, Miss Bridewell, and other than those two, Antoinette had no one else she dared unburden herself to These past feeeks in London she’d been watched continually by Lord Appleby’s servants, and she didn’t expect Wexmoor Manor to be any different—worse, because at least in London she’d been able to go about, even attending the opening of the Great Exhibition, and enjoying the new sights and sounds

But that was before she’d understood Lord Appleby’s true intention in inviting her to his Mayfair house

Suddenly the coach lurched Antoinette dropped her spectacles Outside there was a popping noise, followed by shouts frorasp thefraside the coach The rider wore black, everything black, including a blackthe upper half of his face He kept pace with the coach, and although her poor eyesightabout hih the dusty glass

And s his prey

He was there for only a heartbeat, and then he’d spurred his horse on, but it was long enough Antoinette felt as if his regard had burned itself into her skin As if he had left a brand upon her

Confused, startled, her heart thudding, she pressed herself back into the soft leather of the seat She told herself that this was England in the reign of Queen Victoria, and highwaye Or was this isolated corner of Devon yet to catch up with the more civilized parts of the country?

But if she was i to the strap, bracing herself against the wildly rocking vehicle as the driver attehwayerously around a corner, and there was a loud bang as the coach to see beyond the , but it was all a blur of trees and earth and s

ky And then the coach began to slow until eventually it shuddered to a halt

Antoinette sat ashe could loosen her stays beneath the tight-fitting bodice of her tan taffeta and eo neatly pinned and parted, was hanging down, ha her led, displaying far tooabove her lace-up boots

What now? she asked herself Was she to cower inside and await her fate? Practical, sensible Antoinette had never cowered in her life Bad enough that she’d been sent into the country to a place she didn’t know by Lord Appleby, a man she detested, but to be trapped inside her coach by an anachronism? No, she wouldn’t have it

Antoinette released the catch on theand after a brief struggle forced it down

Cold, unpowder Undeterred, Antoinette stuck her head out of the coach The scene before her was chaotic The coachround, hands in the air, and thea brace of pistols at theruff voice as the coachue