1,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
A woman betrayed. Vengeance sought. Can love find its way? Step back into Georgian England and join our heroine on her erotic adventure into darkness and desire.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015
Ähnliche
A Step Into Darkness Part One
BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 MunichPart One cover
A Step Into Darkness
Part One
Book One
Darkest Before Dawn Series
By
Judith Löwe
Whether we fall by ambitions, blood, or lust,
Like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust.
The Duchess of Malfi
John Webster
Chapter One
Chapter I
1730 Midsummer's Eve
Marguerite was never quite sure what made her stir from the mists of darkness that enveloped her mind. Whether it was the faint echo of female whimpering or the insistent whispering of her name.
"Marguerite, wake up.."
A light tapping of her face strengthened the effort to open her eyes, the struggle against heavy lids for vision.
"William..what is happening?" Marguerite hardly recognised her voice, a slurred wisp.
William had a wild look of despair in his eyes.
"I am so sorry. I should never have..."
"Troubled by doubts, my dear Strafford?"
The note of mockery was unmistakable in the strange disembodied voice that suddenly rang out. William visibly stiffened at the sound of the voice.
"Please, let us stop this. She has not seen any of the members nor does she know what is taking place," William pleaded as he turned to face the speaker.
Marguerite faintly glimpsed a masked figure all in black that stood to the front of William. Abruptly aware of the strange surroundings, Marguerite tried to focus on the flickers of light on the unfamiliar walls. Walls that looked roughly hewn out of stone. The first slivers of panic sliced through her.
"Have you forgotten, my dear Strafford, how you were ranting about this whore just this fortnight past. How this faithless whore threw you over for a duke." The ugly sneer sounded out loud.
"Have you grown soft? Remember, she weds Monmouth in a week."
William's face flushed a dark red as he snapped at the figure in black. "I recall all of that perfectly, but this was not what I had in mind when you proposed punishment. Nor did I think that this was what the Brotherhood meant."
Cold steel rang in the dark figure's voice as he gripped William's shoulder. "It is too late, my dear Strafford. The brothers have gathered and I would not try to deny them if I were you." The slump in William's shoulders accompanied the smug note of triumph in the figure's voice.
"What is happening, William?"
Panic lent strength to her voice as Marguerite tried to make sense of a situation that was rapidly becoming sinister.
The tears gathering in William's eyes as he stared at her in defeat made her blood run cold. Suddenly, she noted what had been a niggling thought at the edge of her mind. He was in black robes like the strange figure, except his face was not covered by a mask.
"Ahh, my dear, you've woken from your slumber in time to join us for the main event of our congregation."
As he drew closer, Marguerite noticed the ornate black mask that obscured half of the man's face, leaving only a glimpse of thin lips drawn into an ugly sneer beneath cold, empty eyes. Eyes hidden in the shadows of the mask tied tightly over a head of light brown hair, sparse and thinning at the back, clearly visible as he turned to address someone.
"Welcome, my brothers, as we celebrate this holy day, you are all invited to partake of this feast that our new member has provided for us as a fitting end to his novitiate."
