I’d give this a 3.5 or 4 but on a Cartland scale. This is one of her earlier books. I think it was written in 1959. So as her books go, this is much longer and more substantial than the cookie-cutter cash cow novels she churned out later on.
It still has many of her signature elements; the historical figures who actually feature prominently in the book. In this case, King Charles II and his mistress Barbara Castlemaine, who is actually the villainess in this story. We have the young beautiful heroine, who finds herself in danger and must be rescued by the Hero. There is actually very little screen time between the Hero and heroine, the story is more about court intrigue and how the heroine needs to balance a fine line since she has incurred the wrath of the favored mistress.
Anyways on to the story.
The book opens with the very very young heroine (barely 16yrs old) being spirited away in a coach. She is terrified of the man she is with, an oily, old, gross corrupt tax collector who has convinced her to marry him. This is during the time when King Charles had to flee to France and there were Royalist vs the roundheads, loyal to Oliver Cromwell. The heroines family are Royalist and her older brother has been captured. The evil tax collector tells her he will free her brother if she marries him. So she does.
In the coach, the villain tries to rape the heroine, but her little dog bites him. He then proceeds to kill her doggie 😢 Ugh, the author does not spare us this and i was as distressed as the heroine. As she is crying the coach is held up by a couple of highway men. Needless to say, she is rescued by the mysterious highwayman, who duels w her corrupt husband and wins, he then brings her back home. He also reveals that he has heard news that her brother has already been hanged, therefore the evil tax collector had been lying to her all along.
Years later, when King Charles II returns to the throne, the heroine and her aged aunt are at court to be ladies in waiting to the new queen. They meet a cousin there, Rudolph, who tries to introduce the aunt to Barbara Castlemaine, the mistress of the King. However, the aunt snubs her, since she is an immoral woman, and thus she and the heroine incur the wrath of the mistress. Not a good idea since the mistress is very powerful at court.
Cousin Rudolph tries to convince the aunt to help him petition for their family estates and for him to get the title. The heroine’s father was the last Marquis of their estate Staverley. But since her brother death, the estate and title have been in abeyance. The aunt argues that there is in fact an older cousin Lucius, who has more claim to the title, but no one has heard from him in years. Rudolf wants to have Lucius declared dead so he can now succeed to the title and estates. He also wants to marry the heroine since she is an heiress. (** when she was rescued, the highwayman gave her the money of the tax collector, reasoning that since she was the ‘widow’ she was entitled to it) No one yet knows how she has come by her riches, but so far no one has questioned it.
The cousin suspects that the highwayman is Lucius, but if he confesses this to anyone, it would just prove that Lucius is alive and therefore the rightful Marquess. The heroine starts suspecting also that the highwayman who rescued her is actually her cousin Lucius.
Anyway one day she hears that there are soldiers who are out looking for him to bring him in and charge him as an outlaw. Despite the return of the King, whom he us rumored to have saved, he has not come out of hiding and in fact has continued being a sort of robin hood to the poor and unjustly charged. The heroine finds out that her okd groom knows how to get in touch w her cousin Lucius and she convinces him to take her to him so she can warn him. Okay why the old groom could not do this himself instead I have no idea!! But Dame BC wants our heroine to ride through the night to her old abandoned estate where Lucius is hiding out so she can warn him. And of course he is hiding out there! And of course he is the highwayman who rescued her. Despite this being just the 2nd time they meet, they are in love w each other 🤦🏻♀️ but whatever! She eventually warns him, so he and his men escape.
Rudolf arrives w a bunch of soldiers to capture the notorious highwayman, but they only find the heroine. She makes some excuse that she usually goes to her old home for sentimental reasons. So their mission is foiled. Rudolph wants his cousin captured because if he is hanged as a highwayman, he gets the title.
Remember the nasty Mistress hates the heroine and her aunt, and apparently she has a much more efficient spy network than all the kings horses and all the kings men! 😳 Through her network, they find out the backstory of the heroine and her secret marriage. She now has her arrested for the murder of the husband. Its very distressing and the heroine is actually brought to Newgate and Dame BC describes the filth and horror of the cells. Luckily, the heroine has money so she can purchase a private cell for herself but it is still pretty bad.
It looks very bleak for the heroine, and during the trial, the evil Mistress and her cronies get front row seats to better observe the heroine’s downfall and conviction. However, at the last minute, the notorious highwayman arrives, (he is still masked) and he explains how the heroine was just a child, taken advantage of by a vile corrupt man, and he in fact died by dueling w him. So if anyone should be held accountable, it should be him and not the heroine. Then he escapes after this confession and the heroine gets off free.
However, because of this trial, the evil mistress is very intrigued by this dashing highway man and she is determined to meet him. Since, as it seems, she is smarter than all the kings horses and all the kings men, she has figured out that this highwayman is Lucius the true heir to the Marquisate. She is so obsessed by him, she hunts him down and finds him!! 😁 LOL everything is so plausible 😁 she tries to seduce him, but he resists.
Rudolph also is still determined to marry the heroine for her money, so he kidnaps her and spirits her off to a little church. However, the highwayman as Lucius comes in time to rescue her once again. He marries her instead. Also just in time, the King shows up snd recognizes Lucius as the man who helped him escape, so he pardons him and his men and he restores the title snd estates to him and the heroine.
Rudolph is told to go into exile. No comeuppance for evil mistress…ever. Even in the history books. I looked her up.