The Duchess and the Highwayman
The Duchess and the Highwayman by Beverley Oakley , Hearts in Hiding, Book 1
The story takes place in Norfolk, England in 1816. Phoebe has been married to Ulrick, an older duke of Drummond House for five years in the hopes she can bear him an heir. When he can no longer perform, he convinces her to have an affair with his cousin, Wentworth and pass the child off as his heir.
Wentworth at first seems charming but she comes to hate him as well as the other men in her husband’s circle. While Wentworth is forcing himself on her, news comes that Ulrick’s two brothers have died in a carriage accident, and Wentworth is next in line to inherit. He grabs Phoebe’s hand and forces her to stab Ulrick to death. She flees the manor house.
Oakley packs a lot of action and information in a few chapters so keep up. She shows how harsh life is to women in the nineteenth century, and Phoebe isn’t the only one to suffer.
While fleeing, her coach is stopped by a highwayman who takes her to his cottage. He is seeking revenge on Wentworth after he seduced his young sister, Ada. With everyone looking for the duchess to convict her of murder, Phoebe pretends to be the lady in waiting to the duchess and professes the woman’s innocence.
Phoebe has several choices to make to stay out of jail and free of the hangman’s noose. One of them is to seduce the highwayman, who is Hugh Redding, the younger son of a Baron. But she falls in love with him. Ada arrives and complicates matters. And when Hugh finds out the truth, how will he react? The danger ramps up when Wentworth finds her and has her arrested.
Oakley knows how to build layer upon layer to make a story more than a love story. She puts her heroine in real danger and has her act in a way that some would think unacceptable for a lady. She questions the strict morality of what women can do and challenges the reader to consider the choices women are forced to make.
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#Regency #Romance #BeverleyOakley #historical
