The Lost Love of a Soldier is out on the 17th July
You already know much of the story if you have read The Illicit Love of a Courtesan… But the Prequel to the Marlow Intrigues is much more than a brief view of Ellen’s first marriage, it makes Paul, John’s father, flesh and bone, and places the scarlet coat on his shoulders…
An excerpt from The Scandalous Love of a Duke…
‘John felt like the child he’d been when he’d left. The child his uncle had always seemed to pity. He nodded though, and walked on along the familiar hall as Richard turned the other way.
John’s head was suddenly full of pictures from the past. The most acute being the day his mother and his stepfather had come here to fetch him during that troubled tenth year of his life. The day he’d been returned to his mother after the scene which haunted him. The moment they had been ripped apart.
She’d taken John from school previously, in the middle of the night. John’s stepfather had been with her then, but he’d been a stranger to John at the time. They’d travelled north for miles and then she’d married that stranger.
It was only a couple of weeks after that John’s grandfather had come and taken him back.
The day his mother had collected John here, his grandfather had acknowledged her for the first time...’
An excerpt from The Lost Love of a Soldier ~ in the beginning, when Ellen and Paul met, John’s mother and father…
‘In those weeks Paul had singled her out. He’d sat next to her for several meals, and turned the music sheets for her when she’d played; his thigh brushing against hers as they’d shared a narrow stool.
She’d known her father’s intention had been for her to draw the interest of the Duke of Argyle, but she didn’t want to marry an old man. Paul had talked to her and made her laugh, whispering as she played, while the other men talked politics and struck bargains about the room.
They’d communicated through the servants since the beginning of August.
Paul had befriended a groom while he’d stayed here and the man took letters back and forth, passing them through Pippa.
Ellen’s conscience whispered as she turned to open her writing desk, which stood on a small table before the window.
The very first time she’d seen Paul, before they’d even been introduced, something had pulled her gaze to him.
Perhaps it was his scarlet coat which made him stand out among her father’s political friends, or his dark blond hair, which swept sideways across his brow, as though his fingers had combed through it. Or his blue eyes which had looked back at her. Or the dimple which dented his cheek when he’d smiled before looking away.
When they were introduced, her stomach had somersaulted, and when he’d kissed the back of her fingers her knees had weakened. It was as if she’d known him a lifetime as he’d held her gaze.
She’d told her sister, Penny, she wished to marry the soldier, not the old Duke.
She should not have written to Paul though, not without permission… Thrusting the guilt aside, she put his letter down to start her own, sitting before a blank sheet of paper.‘
You can purchase The Lost Love of a Soldier by clicking on the cover in the right hand column.
Go to the index
For
- the story of the real courtesan who inspired The Illicit Love of a Courtesan,
- another free short story, about characters from book #2, A Lord’s Scandalous Love,
- the prequel excerpts for book #3 The Scandalous Love of a Duke
Jane Lark is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional Historical and New Adult Romance stories, and the author of a No.1 bestselling Historical Romance novel in America, ‘The Illicit Love of a Courtesan’.
Click here to find out more about Jane’s books, and see Jane’s website www.janelark.co.uk to learn more about Jane. Or click ‘like’ on Jane’s Facebook page to see photo’s and learn historical facts from the Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras, which Jane publishes there. You can also follow Jane on twitter at @janelark
Jane’s books can be ordered from most booksellers in paperback
Author, Jane Lark's stories 