The Return of Lord Conistone. Lucy Ashford

       Praise for Lucy Ashford writing as Elizabeth Redfern

      THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

      ‘Unputdownable…[a] remarkable debut…

      a glittering tale of London in 1795, full of science, intrigue, war, revolution, and obsessive passion’. —Guardian

      ‘An engrossing read and a rich,

      pungent evocation of the period’. —Observer

      ‘…brilliantly handled to keep the reader guessing

      right to the end’. —Charles Palliser

      ‘Striking and original…a star is born’.

      —Literary Review

      ‘Quite wonderful… It is Redfern’s ability to bring

       each scene, each character alive that makes this such toothsome reading’. —USA TODAY

      AURIEL RISING

      ‘Intelligent’.

      —New York Times

      ‘Richly atmospheric…Redfern’s strength is in

      re-creating a morally corrupt world…’ —Publishers Weekly

       ‘Will you keep your trust in me, whatever you hear? Will you remember we are friends?’

      Friends. Verena’s heart plummeted, but she managed to say lightly, ‘Good friends, indeed’.

      Lucas nodded almost curtly, then took her hand and pressed his lips to it. She wanted to fling herself in his arms and cling to him and never let him go.

      As he walked towards his waiting horse he turned to her one last time, as if he was about to say something else. But then he mounted up, gave a half-salute, and was gone.

      She’d thought— everybody had thought—that he’d gone back to the battlefields of the Peninsula. But news came a few weeks later that he’d resigned from the army and was instead living the high life in London, with the Prince’s set. After that came whispers, too, of secret affaires with beautiful society women. And each piece of news about Lord Lucas Conistone stabbed Verena to the heart.

      About the Author

      LUCY ASHFORD, an English Studies lecturer, has always loved literature and history, and from childhood one of her favourite occupations has been to immerse herself in historical romances. She studied English with history at Nottingham University, and the Regency is her favourite period.

      Lucy has written several historical novels, but this is only her second for Mills & Boon®. She lives with her husband in an old stone cottage in the Peak District, near to beautiful Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall, all of which give her a taste of the magic of life in a bygone age. Her garden enjoys spectacular views over the Derbyshire hills, where she loves to roam and let her imagination go to work on her latest story.

      

      

       A previous novel from Lucy Ashford:

      THE MAJOR AND THE PICKPOCKET

      AUTHOR NOTE

      I remember a fantastic history teacher at school, who held us spellbound with her tales of the Napoleonic wars. I’ve often wondered since if the tremendous appeal of the Regency lies in the contrast between the sparkle and glamour of upper-class life in London and the incredible danger faced by so many brave men during that long, long campaign against the French.

      One of the most fascinating battles, for me, was Busaco, in Portugal, where in 1810 Wellington’s soldiers fought for their very survival. Wellington won, thanks largely to his courageous intelligence officers. And all this—you’ve guessed it—gave me the inspiration for my second historical for Mills & Boon, in which my hero, Lord Lucas Conistone, has apparently abandoned his army career to live the life of a rake with the Prince’s set.

      Along the way he has broken Verena Sheldon’s heart. But is Lucas really what he seems? Why is he so interested in the journeys Verena’s explorer father made in Spain and Portugal? Gradually, amidst much heartache, Verena realises how Lucas, in the cruellest possible way, has been forced into an almost impossible choice—between his duty to his country and his abiding love for her.

      I do hope you enjoy their story!

      

       THE RETURN OF LORD CONISTONE

      Lucy Ashford

      

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      

       For my alpha-male, AJR— who not only helped with the research, but also provided endless cups of tea.

       Prologue

       May 1810—Portugal

      His four men huddled round a meagre fire and played cards for escudos. But Lucas Conistone stood apart, his hooded grey eyes scanning the peaks like a hawk’s as the fiery sun set over the mountains, the iron wind tugging at his tousled black hair and his travel-worn clothes.

      Here, he’d been told. Here was the meeting place. If it was a trap, he was ready. His hand went to the pistol in his pocket and softly caressed the cold metal.

      And then he turned round quickly, and his men also were on their feet, because someone was hurrying along the rocky path to this isolated mountain pass, a silhouette against the blood-red sun.

      Lucas gestured to his men to sit again as he recognised the small, sinewy figure coming straight for him. ‘Como vai, Miguel?’ he said softly in fluent Portuguese. ‘I hear you have news’.

      The man called Miguel grasped his hand, his dark head barely up to Lucas’s powerful shoulder, and said in the accent of the Portuguese mountain people, ‘News, yes, meu amigo. The body of the Englishman has been found at last’.

      After nearly a year and a half of searching. ‘Where?’

      ‘He must have been swept downstream by the flood waters of the River Vouga. His body was trapped under rocks, and rotted in the water as the months went by—a suitable end, nao? And—this was found on him’. Miguel handed Lucas a small package; something saved, miraculously, from the water by the oilskin in which it was tightly wrapped.

      Swiftly Lucas tore the package open.

      A compact, leather-bound journal. And the first entry was dated—September 1808.

      No. He wanted to shout his protest across the mountains. No. Where was the old one, the previous one?

      He flicked through it—two, three pages only, of hurried notes. The rest was blank. A blow indeed.

      Wild Jack, I have followed you to hell and back for this.

      Curtly he held out silver coins to the man Miguel. ‘Where is the body now?’

      ‘We buried what was left of it, Inglês. For the spies of Napoleon Bonaparte are on the trail’. He looked up at Lucas slyly. ‘And they offer our people rewards also’.

      Lucas clenched his teeth. ‘And what exactly have your people told them, Miguel?’

      The man gave a crooked smile. ‘Why, we babbled of treasure. The old, old legend of gold buried somewhere in the steep hills high