Regency with a paranormal twist
Excerpt
Who did the woman think he was to summon
him to her room like that? A lackey, probably. His lips twisted in an angry
snarl as he climbed the stairs two by two. Madame Norton might live in a
ramshackle manor house on the bleak, windswept Devonshire
moorland, but she was still a Beauregard on her mother's side and a member of
the English gentry by marriage. He should have followed Martin's advice and
stayed at the club a while longer.
He walked down the
draughty corridor and drummed impatient fingers on her door.
‘Who's there?’ A timid voice answered from behind the door.
‘Saintclair. Did you
want to talk to me?’ His tone was short.
The door opened just
enough for Madame Norton to peer through.
He exhaled sharply to
control his rising temper. ‘Are you going to let me in or shall we talk in the
corridor?’
She opened the door
wider and he strode in.
‘Is there a problem?’
He looked down at her. Barefoot and swamped in an old dressing gown, the woman
hardly reached his shoulder. He wondered what she wore underneath, if anything.
His pulse quickened and a sudden rush of heat coursed through his veins. He
stuck his hands in his coat pockets.
She stepped back and
folded her arms on her chest.
‘You said you would be back early, yet you
left me waiting here all day.’
Her icy tone did
nothing to cool his blood. In fact it had just the opposite effect. He took a
deep breath and walked to the fireplace to put some distance between them. His
lips stretched in a thin smile.
‘Sorry. I
got…distracted.’ He shrugged. ‘I did arrange a carriage and a driver for us.
We're leaving for Lyon on Saturday.’
She looked at him again
in the way a queen might look at a mangy dog.
‘Why wait until
Saturday? Your instructions are to take me straight to Beauregard. Monsieur
Malleval won't be pleased.’
If she meant to intimidate him, she had
failed. She was starting to amuse him greatly—in more ways than one.
‘I have things to do.
Anyway, what's the rush? I thought you might like to come to town with me
tomorrow and see a play in the evening.’
Her eyes flashed in
anger.
‘I do not go to the
theatre, Capitaine. I am in mourning.’
He arched his eyebrows.
‘After six years?’
‘My husband was a
wonderful man. I will mourn him all my life.’ Her eyes filled with tears, she
bit her lip.
He didn't answer. There was
one thing to be said for her. She was convincing—a first-class actress. He had
almost been taken in by her wistful sighs and tearful eyes, by her drab
mourning dresses and the almost virginal blushing on her cheeks every time he
looked her way. He had almost believed her grief-stricken widow act…until he
saw young Norton leave her room in the middle of the night with a wide grin on
his face. He knew better than to be fooled by a woman, especially a pretty
one.
Blurb
Marie-Ange, the young widow of an English
officer, accepts an inheritance in France
‘Angel Heart’ is a lavish mix of romance, adventure and a hint of the supernatural, largely set in
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