Dark doings within the ton!
by Bradley, Anna
1790, Fifteen year old Emma Downing found her way to the Clifford Charity School for Wayward Girls. Her arrival was disconcerting, with “great gouts of blood” staining her dress, but as Lady Amanda Clifford noted, Emma had survived the abuse she suffered at Madame Manchard’s brothel. “That made her extraordinary. No, more than that. It made her a miracle.” The School for Wayward Girls is dedicated to bringing justice for young woman abused at the hands of the aristocracy. Now Emma will join their ranks.
Five years later, 1795, Emma is on the hunt for a nobleman who is abusing courtesans at that same establishment, the Pink Pearl.
Emma is concerned about two missing servant girls who’d disappeared from Lymington House, “and now the third, Caroline Francis, is pointing her accusing finger at Lord Lovell.” A charming young rakeshell who managed to keep the worst of bad company whilst his cousin Samuel deployed as a Captain with the Royal Navy during the war. Is Lovell capable of the level of debauchery hinted at?
Now that he’s home, Samuel Fitzroy, Marquess of Lymington is trying to help Lovell change his ways. He’s also concerned about missing servant girls and wants to talk to Caroline Francis. Sam and Emma are at Madam’s on the same night. Emma is under.
Samuel and Emma’s paths cross frequently in their seperate investigations. Samuel knows Emma is more than she seems. Emma knows Samuel is astute and dangerous. It doesn’t help that both of them feel a strong pull of attraction. These two are at daggers drawn but maybe they should join forces, stand back to back, and turn their knives outwards towards the true culprit, when they track that person down.
Intrigue and romance. A powerful combination. I must say I loved the chemistry between Sam and Emma! I loved Emma’s repartee, so unsuitable for the debutante she’s supposed to be. But then she is an “original”.
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