AT HER SERVICE
Chapter One
The Crimea, February 1855
On a cold, frosty morning just outside Sevastopol, Hugh
D'Abernon, Marquis of Darley, rode over the crest of a
hill and saw her for the first time. She was standing beside a
green lacquered carriage, holding up the hem of her sable coat
to keep it out of the mud, watching her servant shoveling the
muck away from one of the carriage wheels-or what once had
been a wheel. It was shattered beyond repair.
Her red-gold hair gleamed in the sunlight, and even from
ten yards away, her beauty was striking. Not that lovely ladies
were of particular interest to him at the moment; he had an assignment
to complete. But he had to admit in this theater of
war a woman of her stamp was rare and, by definition, memorable.
She was some noble's wife, no doubt. Some very rich
noble. That sable coat she wore was fashioned from the rarest
and most costly golden pelts.
Moments later as he neared the carriage that had apparently
bottomed out in one of the wretched holes on the nearly impassable
road, he drew his horse to a halt. Even more stunning
at close range, ... read full excerpt from At Her Service ebook
