Year of Folly

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Kosta took a breath. “Very well, then.” He moved toward the drawing room with firm strides.

  Emma held her hand out to Morgan. “You will come with me, yes?”

  He took her hand.

  JASPER SAT BESIDE LILLY ON the sofa, her hand in his, as Morgan and Kosta drew up the pair of wing chairs and settled them in front of Lilly and Jasper.

  Emma was startled when Morgan moved over to the fireplace. “No, over here with me,” she told him. “Please.”

  Lilly’s eyes widened as Morgan pulled the little corner chair over between the wing chairs and settled on it.

  Jasper gave a small smile.

  For a moment, the five of them sat in strained silence.

  “Perhaps I should start,” Emma said, “by introducing everyone.”

  “But we know…” Lilly began. Jasper squeezed her hand. She cleared her throat. “Very well.”

  “Prince Konstantin, I would like to introduce to you my mother, Lady Lillian Thomsett, daughter of Seth Williams, Earl of Innesford, and my stepfather, Major Jasper Thomsett, son of Archduke Erhard of Silkeborg, and former member of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers, now retired.”

  Lilly’s eyes sparkled. She nodded at Kosta. “Your Highness.”

  Kosta gripped his hands together. “This, I had guessed,” he said, his voice strained. He leaned forward. “I beg you, Lady Lillian, to put me out of my misery. Tell me how my family aggrieved yours. I would make amends, if I can…but first I must know what happened.”

  The sparkling in Lilly’s eyes became pools of tears. Her tears fell. “I have never told anyone but Jasper this story.” Her voice was strained. “You must understand that even now, after all these years, I still have…I still am brought to stillness, while the horror plays out in my mind.”

  Emma drew in a breath with shock. She had guessed the secret would be this dark and awful. Only to have it confirmed made it worse.

  Kosta’s fingers turned white as his grip tightened. “Thorburn…he raped you, did he not?” His voice was gentle.

  Lilly’s face crumpled. She turned to Jasper, who pressed her head against his shoulder. His expression was strained. “She was fourteen. It was her first season.”

  Kosta sat back with a heavy exhalation. “Dear god…” he breathed.

  Emma’s breath hitched. She felt a warm hand around hers, holding tight. Morgan’s. She put her other hand over his.

  “It does not end there,” Jasper added grimly.

  Even Morgan’s hand gave a little jump.

  “When Lilly’s father learned of what had happened, he confronted Thorburn,” Jasper continued. “Seth Williams was famous for his temper and his love of a scrap, yet he managed to contain both that night, for Lilly’s sake. Instead, he challenged Thorburn to a duel…and Thorburn shot him in the back before the count had properly finished.”

  Lilly sobbed against his shoulder and Jasper tightened his arm around her.

  Morgan sighed. “A duel would redress the dishonor,” he murmured. “Only, Thorburn made sure of the outcome by cheating.”

  Emma stared at Jasper and her mother, her horror building.

  Kosta ran both hands through his hair. “The man was a monster,” he breathed. “My family would have disowned him, had they known of this.”

  “There is even more you should know,” Jasper said grimly.

  Kosta dropped his hands. “God above…” Horror altered his voice.

  Emma’s hands hurt, so tightly did she grip Morgan’s. Her heart hurt, too.

  “After Seth Williams died, Thorburn’s family sent him to India. He served with a regiment there, until his father died and he inherited the Blackawton title. When he came back to England he…” Jasper shook his head. “One of the very first things he did was find Lilly. He wanted to…to further a relationship with Lilly that existed only in his own mind.”

  Emma’s eyes ached with scalding tears.

  Kosta leaned forward. “You killed him, didn’t you, Major? It was not the Captain Shore, who was cited in the reports. It was you.”

  Jasper met Kosta’s gaze. “Yes, I killed him.” His voice was flat.

  Kosta gave a great gusty sigh. He sat back once more and nodded.

  Jasper kissed the curls on the top of Lilly’s head. “To save Lilly’s reputation and the family honor, the regiment reported that Carey Shore killed him. They said Thorburn had sabotaged their munitions supply because he was a Russian agent. It blackened Thorburn’s reputation, as it deserved to be, and kept Lilly out of the affair.” His gaze met Kosta’s once more. “It may have damaged your family’s honor in the eyes of your Emperor, yet it is better to have a Russian agent as a family blackguard, than a deranged rapist of young girls.” Jasper paused. “Lilly was not his only victim, you see.”

  Kosta shook his head in sad wonder. “It is a blessing that the child of his loins takes after her mother,” he said softly. “Both have strength. In here.” He touched his chest.

  Jasper looked at Emma. “Yes, they do.” The corner of his mouth lifted.

  Lilly did not reveal her face, but she held out her hand toward Emma.

  Emma took it.

  LILLY AND JASPER WERE STAYING for the night. When Bridget returned from her rounds of the mills a short while later, everyone went to their rooms to change for dinner.

  Emma hurried through her ablutions and preparations, her heart thudding in a hurried beat the whole time. She wanted to return to the drawing room as swiftly as possible. She wanted to be near Morgan.

  She moved down the stairs a step at a time, still fastening her bracelet and tugging her gloves into place…and found Morgan was standing upon the same spot she had seen him upon this morning.

  He watched her descend the stairs, with the same heat in his eyes.

  Emma stopped two steps from the bottom to look down at him, happiness spilling through her, making her feel light and insubstantial. “Morgan.”

  “Emma.” He picked up her hand and drew her down the last two steps. “Everyone is in the drawing room, and I suddenly could not wait.”

  “After a year of waiting,” she added. She hesitated. “Was it a year, Morgan?”

  He pressed her knuckles to his lips. “Very nearly, yes.”

  “I forced you to wait because I threw myself into politics. If I had only known, I would have discarded it all for you.”

  The heat in his eyes leapt. “It is because you threw yourself into politics, that I wanted to wait.” He slid his thumb over her cheek. “I watched your passion burn as you learned more and more about suffrage and power…and that was when I knew I loved you. You glowed with fervor, and I knew I would do anything to help you. Then, I was waiting in the clerks’ office at the town hall one day and the ledger was right there, open upon the desk, so I picked up the pen…” His fingers tightened on hers. “Do not ever give up this drive of yours for equality, Emma. It has made you what you are, just as your past made you. You searched for years to learn who you were and you found yourself here. I was privileged to watch and to play a tiny part in it.”

  Emma stepped closer and wound her free arm around his neck. “It was not tiny, Morgan, and I will never forget what you did. I have been a fool and so very blind. A whole year I’ve wasted, when I might have been with you all along.”

  Morgan shook his head. “It wasn’t wasted. Not a moment of it.”

  “I didn’t understand. I treated you so horribly.”

  He tipped her chin up. “Because you loved me, when you really wanted to love someone like Kosta, who would redress all the ills in your life.” His eyes were very blue in the bright, late evening light shedding through the windows.

  Her eyes ached. “How well you know me.”

  “I do,” Morgan breathed and kissed her. “You are the whirlwind I need,” he breathed, his lips brushing her cheek. “Marry me, Emma. Promise to up-end my life, always.”

  She sighed. “I will.”

  ___________________________________

/>   The next book in the Scandalous Scions series.

  Queen of Hearts. Book 13 (and final)

  In America, she met an Indian called River.

  Sadie travelled to America when she was nineteen, leaving behind her great family, to learn more about her real parents and how they died. While traveling in the Columbia River territories, her party is attacked by Indians and saved by a different tribe. Among them is the brave she comes to know as River.

  Sadie learns that not only is River an Englishman, he is the son of the Duke of Caldwell. When his family learns he survived his parents’ death when he was an infant, River faces a choice: Leave Sadie and his tribe behind, or let the people of Caldwell suffer at the hands of his indifferent and selfish uncle…

  I am overwhelmed by how much I have enjoyed this series so far. It was not superficial fluff as I thought it might be when I began. Cooper-Posey books have touched on so many universal themes.

  Get your copy of Queen of Hearts now:

  https://tracycooperposey.com/queen-of-hearts/

  About the Author

  Tracy Cooper-Posey is a #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, historical, paranormal and science fiction romance. She has published over 100 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.

  She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year. Tracy won the award in 2012, and a SFR Galaxy Award in 2016 for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding” She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.

  She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.

  Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on the cover you are interested in: http://tracycooperposey.com/books-by-thumbnail/

  Scandalous Scions

  (Historical Romance Series – Spin off)

  Rose of Ebony

  Soul of Sin

  Valor of Love

  Marriage of Lies

  Scandalous Scions One (Boxed Set)

  Mask of Nobility

  Law of Attraction

  Veil of Honor

  Scandalous Scions Two (Boxed Set)

  Season of Denial

  Rules of Engagement

  Degree of Solitude

  Ashes of Pride

  Risk of Ruin

  Year of Folly

  Queen of Hearts

  Once and Future Hearts

  (Ancient Historical Romance—Arthurian)

  Born of No Man

  Dragon Kin

  Pendragon Rises

  War Duke of Britain

  High King of Britain

  Battle of Mount Badon

  Abduction of Guenivere

  Downfall of Cornwall

  Vengeance of Arthur

  Grace of Lancelot

  The Grail and Glory

  Camlann

  Kiss Across Time Series

  (Paranormal Time Travel)

  Kiss Across Time

  Kiss Across Swords

  Time Kissed Moments

  Kiss Across Chains

  Kiss Across Time Box One (Boxed Set)

  Kiss Across Deserts

  Kiss Across Kingdoms

  Time and Tyra Again

  Kiss Across Seas

  Kiss Across Time Box Two (Boxed Set)

  Kiss Across Worlds

  Time and Remembrance

  Kiss Across Tomorrow

  More Time Kissed Moments

  Kiss Across Blades

  Kiss Across Chaos

  Kiss Across The Universe

  Even More Time Kissed Moments

  Kiss Across Forever

  Project Kobra

  (Romantic Spy Thrillers)

  Hunting The Kobra

  Inside Man

  Vistaria Has Fallen

  Vistaria Has Fallen

  Prisoner of War

  Hostage Crisis

  Freedom Fighters

  Casualties of War

  V-Day

  Romantic Thrillers Series

  Fatal Wild Child

  Dead Again

  Dead Double

  Terror Stash

  Thrilling Affair (Boxed Set)

  Beloved Bloody Time Series

  (Paranormal Futuristic Time Travel)

  Bannockburn Binding

  Wait

  Byzantine Heartbreak

  Viennese Agreement

  Romani Armada

  Spartan Resistance

  Celtic Crossing

  Beloved Bloody Time Series Boxed Set

  Scandalous Sirens

  (Historical Romance Series)

  Forbidden

  Dangerous Beauty

  Perilous Princess

  Go-get-‘em Women

  (Short Romantic Suspense Series)

  The Royal Talisman

  Delly’s Last Night

  Vivian’s Return

  Ningaloo Nights

  Blood Knot Series

  (Urban Fantasy Paranormal Series)

  Blood Knot

  Southampton Swindle

  Broken Promise

  Vale

  Amor Meus

  Blood Stone

  Blood Unleashed

  Blood Drive

  Blood Revealed

  Blood Ascendant

  The Sherlock Holmes Series

  (Romantic Suspense/Mystery)

  Chronicles of the Lost Years

  The Case of the Reluctant Agent

  Sherlock Boxed In

  The Kine Prophecies

  (Epic Norse Fantasy Romance)

  The Branded Rose Prophecy

  The Stonebrood Saga

  (Gargoyle Paranormal Series)

  Carson’s Night

  Beauty’s Beasts

  Harvest of Holidays

  Unbearable

  Sabrina’s Clan

  Pay The Ferryman

  Hearts of Stone (Boxed Set)

  Destiny’s Trinities

  (Urban Fantasy Romance Series)

  Beth’s Acceptance

  Mia’s Return

  Sera’s Gift

  The First Trinity

  Cora’s Secret

  Zoe’s Blockade

  Octavia’s War

  The Second Trinity

  Terra’s Victory

  Destiny’s Trinities (Boxed Set)

  Interspace Origins

  (Science Fiction Romance Series)

  Faring Soul

  Varkan Rise

  Cat and Company

  Interspace Origins (Boxed Set)

  Short Paranormals

  Solstice Surrender

  Eva’s Last Dance

  Three Taps, Then….

  The Well of Rnomath

  Jewells of Tomorrow

  (Historical Romantic Suspense)

  Diana By The Moon

  Heart of Vengeance

  The Endurance

  (Science Fiction Romance Series)

  5,001

  Greyson’s Doom

  Yesterday’s Legacy

  Promissory Note

  Quiver and Crave

  Xenogenesis

  Junkyard Heroes

  Evangeliya

  Skinwalker’s Bane

  Contemporary Romances

  Lucifer’s Lover

  An Inconvenient Lover

  The Indigo Reports

  (Space Opera)

  Flying Blind

  New Star Rising

  But Now I See

  Suns Eclipsed

  Worlds Beyond

  Non-Fiction Titles

  Reading
Order

  (Non-Fiction, Reference)

  Reading Order Perpetual

  Copyright Information

  This is an original publication of Tracy Cooper-Posey

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

  Copyright © 2019 by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Text design by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Cover design by Dar Albert, Wicked Smart Designs

  http://wickedsmartdesigns.com

  Edited by Mr. Intensity, Mark Posey

  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  FIRST EDITION: September, 2019

  Cooper-Posey, Tracy

  Year of Folly/Tracy Cooper-Posey—1st Ed.

  Romance—Fiction

  Historical—Fiction