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Prologue

Once upon a ti hoenerations It had been waged, in fact, for soit had coht One day, the soldiers looked at the men they battled and realized they did not knohy they wanted to kill theer to come to the same conclusion, but eventually they had been prevailed upon, and all the soldiers on both sides of the war had laid down their arms Peace had been declared

So now our soldier one on for so er had a home to march to, and really he marched to nowhere Still, he had a pack with some food on his back, the sun shone overhead, and the road he’d chosen was a straight and easy one He was content with his lot in life

His na Jack

—from LAUGHING JACK

Chapter One

Jackmerrily, for he was a man without a care in the world

—from LAUGHING JACK

London, England

May 1765

There are few thingsthrown over by one’s prospective bride on one’s wedding day, Jasper Renshaw, Viscount Vale, reflected But being thrown over on one’s wedding day whilst suffering the lingering aftereffects of a night of heavy drinkingwell, that had to set some kind of damnable record for bad luck

“I’m so s-s-s-sorry!” Miss Mary Templeton, the prospective bride in question, wailed at a pitch guaranteed to bring a ht off his skull “I never meant to deceive you!”

“Quite,” Jasper said “I expect so”

He had an urge to rest his aching head in his hands, but this was obviously a highly dramatic point in Miss Teravity for the ht-backed wooden chair in the church vestry, and he’d coentlemanly manner when first they’d entered

Not that Miss Templeton seemed to mind