A novel of Victorian England - Raised in the slums in 1850s London, Celia Laws is a rarity, an educated young woman whose creative skills have attracted notice. But with family to care for, circumstances have driven her to pickpocketing. In Celia’s harsh world, it’s a small step from picking po...
His hand closed around the pistol under his coat, his glance sought out any danger that might be lying in wait in the shadows. Under his arm was a length of rare exotic silk safely packaged in a satchel made from sailcloth. The silk was a gift for Charlotte Honeyman, from which she could fashion ...
‘It’s chicken pox. Use a soothing lotion, and try to prevent them scratching the scabs off when they form, else they’ll be left with scars. ‘As for the other business … there’s nothing physically wrong with the boy’s tongue or mouth that I can see, and no reason why he shouldn’t talk in time. Giv...
Straightening up, she scowled at the wall she was in the middle of washing. Was it her imagination, or had it doubled in size since she’d started? Patrick gazed down at her from his perch on a ladder. He’d nearly finished the top half of his third wall. Compared to her half a bottom, he’d set a ...
His smile broadcast the positive nature of the news he carried, before he had time to get into the house. ‘It’s as I thought, a bronchial complaint. In addition, the girl is anaemic, which accounts for her pallor and most of her other symptoms. That’s what fooled Denton.’ Dr Elliot plunged his ha...
After a while anger replaced his initial shock. ‘You think Serafina has stolen it . . . that’s nonsense.’ ‘There’s no other explanation, Adam.’ ‘Of course there is, there has got to be . . . you just haven’t found it, and the constables are pursuing the easiest and most obvious suspect. Where is ...
He fought to free an arm. If he could get loose he’d have to hack his way free of the creature’s coils. It was a risk, because once penetrated the skin of a sacred eel released deadly toxins. If the toxins rendered him comatose he’d fall through the ice and drown. At the moment, his heels couldn’...
He took a bath and then fell asleep, waking to find his pot-bellied woman watching over him. He’d stolen a red rose he’d seen blossoming in a cottage garden, and although it was only half open and hardly more than a bud, it was in a small crystal vase on Esmé’s dressing table. He smiled at her. ‘...
It was pretty, with a flowered bathtub, matching pedestal, tank and sink. It was more convenient than having to use the bathroom in the hall, which catered for the rest of the rooms on this floor, with the exception of the one Magnus called his own. The bathroom she luxuriated in had been install...
Everyone seemed to be looking at her as she hung off Leon’s arm, a smile pasted in place. ‘How very nice to meet you, Mrs Price.’ ‘Congratulations, Leon.’ Eyes examined her, cautious in expression. There was a nuance of surprise - a momentary widening of the irises from both the men and women. ‘L...
She couldn’t say what bothered her. She and Lucy had a comfortable existence in the home of a man who was generous, and obviously honourable in his intentions, for he’d proposed marriage. Yes, he was more than twice her age, but was that such a bad thing, apart from the fact that he’d expect to b...
Willow grinned at her flight of fancy. The forest’s pulsing heart was a horseman. ‘The rider makes no effort to conceal himself,’ Willow observed, as the soldiers gathered about them with pistols drawn. ‘He intends us no harm.’ ‘Hullo, the coach,’ the rider shouted, bursting from a forest track. ...
She still knew very little about his background, because he rarely spoke about himself. ‘You have an Irish name, are you Irish?’ she asked him one day as they were taking time out from rehearsing. Blue eyes lit on her, and they were guarded. ‘That’s the first time you’ve asked me anything about m...
Dear Sir, I’m writing this letter becus you awt to no that your daughter Miss Julia Howerd did the wrong thing over New Year. Ellen gazed towards the window where her mistress stood in a cloud of dense cigarette smoke, gazing out. ‘Have I got to do this, Miss?’ ‘If you want that bonus I promised ...
Not that the stone house they now resided in was dirty, but the windows were dulled from salt borne on the sea air, and a film of pale grey dust had settled on the furniture. It was one of the finer houses in Portland, built for one of the quarry owners, and sold to David’...
One of the commanders walked along the line, scrutinizing them carefully and pinching their skin for signs of dehydration. A number of the recruits were a sorry-looking sight, their cheeks and stomachs hollowed with hunger, hair dirty and matted. Their instructor pulled them out of the ranks. ‘Yo...
If it hadn’t been for Frey he’d have terminated the association long ago. How different she was from Elizabeth, he thought, experiencing a mixture of guilt and revulsion. He loved his wife, every minute spent in her company was an agony of desire and he longed to recapture the earlier days of the...