Page 1 (1/1)

Prologue

Fro

My earliest , with his heavy cockney accent, "Frannie darling, co" "Frannie darling, fetchfeet" "Frannie darling, let me tell you a story"

And so it was that when anyone asked

I lived in a single rooan and his notorious band of children ere known for their thieving ways I cannot reined he was ht a red and as uncontrollable as hter I was always simply one of his kids The one who sat on his lap and helped hiht in

I was the one who carefully rerams I learned many of my letters from this tedious task because the intricate swirls fascinated an working to erase all evidence they’d ever existed Looking back on that time, I am often astonished to realize that a bit of cloth held such value And yet it did

I think Feagan may have been a teacher in an earlier life In a school where he taught letters and numbers and was admired by his students Or perhaps it was simply that, if he was my father, I wanted him to be more than a criminal

He never spoke of his past, and I never asked him about mine

I sian’s lads always treated h I were special Perhaps because instinctively I led against therew older, I cooked their meals and tended their hurts And sometimes I helped them to steal

But none of this prepared ripped e of twelve Luke and Jack--the eldest of Feagan’s lads at the tih Luke killed thetrial, he was visited by the man’s father--the Earl of Claybourne In Luke, Claybourne saw his long lost grandson and our lives took a drastic turn The Crown forgave Luke his sins and returned hi The earl ive us advantages we’d never had When he hired tutors, I was quick to learn how to read and write and master calculations more intricate than I’d ever encountered I learned etiquette and proper coreat house in St Jaan to an to become aard around him I was much more at ease with Jack When fortune sentlemen’s club, he offered to pay me a very handsome salary to keep his books I thanked the earl for all he’d done for ed that my life was richer because of his efforts and interest in my welfare, but it ith a measure of relief that I walked away from the residence in St James

Deep down, I kneas far better than I deserved I was not of the aristocracy and a place ah effort or accomplishment It was usually determined by bloodline, and I had no doubt that er had to bear their stares, their gossip, or their whispered speculations

I convinced ain associating intimately with the lords and ladies of the aristocracy

So I banished them from my life I worked very hard to create a safe haven where I was happy and content I knehat I possessed was exactly what I wanted, that I desired no more than what I had

And then he strode into erous place indeed

Chapter 1

London

1851

Sterling Mabry, the eighth Duke of Greystone, wasn’t certain why he took such notice of her

Later, he would reflect on the moment and wonder if it was the vibrant red of her hair that had first captured his attention Or perhaps it was the fact that she had stood beside his sister, Catherine, at the altar while she don, the Earl of Claybourne Orthe reception held at his newly acquired brother-in-law’s residence--that three rated toward her, circled around her, each in his oay clai had witnessed lions in Africa behaving He was surprised none of the rooatory toast so he could go the hell hoave each of theof her head as though ied to knohat it was She was ined it carried the sweet dulcet tone of an angel--or perhaps she offered the wicked song of a siren, because it was apparent each man stood as mesmerized by herexceedingly special Even from this distance, he could see the affection she held for each of the men mirrored on her lovely expressive face He wondered if at one time or another she had been lover to each of them, for there was a familiarity between them that went far deeper than friendship

The three ht view their role in her life The first he kneell enough Jack Dodger, owner of the notorious gentle frequently visited since his return to London The second, taller and broader than the others, wasn’t soht--or even during the day, for that entleman was William Graves, the physician Claybourne had sent for when Catherine swooned during their father’s recent wake