by Stella Riley
Anticipation stirred … but he continued to let it build. He knew her now; knew how to summon up a storm or how, as now, to create a long, shining ribbon of pleasure. So he pulled enough pins from her hair to allow it to tumble about her shoulders and he allowed himself to contemplate erotic images of undressing her very, very slowly; of gradually peeling away gown, corset, petticoats and chemise to discover the lovely lines and curves of the exquisitely responsive body they covered. He got as far as mentally removing her stockings before it became impossible to wait any longer and his fingers finally sought the laces of her gown.
Lydia whispered something he didn’t catch but didn’t need to because she had become liquid fire in his arms, wanting him as he wanted her.
Hovering nearby but as yet unrecognised, were a myriad of dazzling possibilities that they might fulfil together.
The future beckoned. And it was bright.
~ * * ~ * * ~
Author’s Note
The period between Cromwell’s forcible expulsion of the Rump in April 1653 and the Rule of the Major Generals in the summer of 1655, is not one of either shining success or landmark moments.
The Nominated Assembly was a failure as was the first parliament of the Protectorate; the Dutch War and the Western Design both cost a fortune but achieved nothing; and the mood in the country as a whole was one of surly discontent.
Nor were the Cavaliers doing any better. Endless failed plots to murder Cromwell; idiotic notions of fermenting risings that would topple the government; a lengthy but hopeless campaign to conquer Scotland; and a new executive body to coordinate Royalist conspiracies and control radical elements which never actually did anything.
The Sealed Knot was formed in late 1653 and Secretary Thurloe first got wind of it in February ’54 during the course of the Ship Tavern investigations. It comprised just six members. Eden met three of them; Edward Villiers, William Compton and Richard Wyllis. But despite Thurloe’s best endeavours, it wasn’t until 1658 when Wyllis began supplying information that he would have learned these names. Eden may have had his suspicions … but history dictates that he had to keep them to himself.
With the exception of Aubrey Durand and Ellis Brandon, all the conspirators named as participants in both the Ship Tavern and Gerard’s Plots were real people and Roger Cotes was Thurloe’s informer throughout. Cromwell did indeed keep a loaded pistol in his pocket and the incident in Hyde Park happened as I have described – though I’ll admit to having used my imagination about the widespread sniggering that followed it.
All these things explain why I have called this book Lords of Misrule. I hope, however, they have not spoiled your enjoyment of it.
Stella Riley
April 2016
Visit me at https://stellariley.wordpress.com/
