Melville spotted Evelyn and rolled his eyes. “The husband, too?” he demanded.
“No.” Adele shook her head. “This will be a nasty surprise for him, poor man.”
“Two of them…” Daniel breathed.
Melville turned to the regimental officer. “Do you have a cellar with no window and a stout lock, Sergeant Major?”
“We can certainly arrange a secure place to put her, sir,” the Sergeant Major replied. “Perhaps a doctor to see to the wound, too?” He moved to the door and gave a whistle. “Beams!”
“Reporting, sah!” came a distant call, and the sound of running feet.
While the officer was at the door, Melville picked up the pistol from where Adele had dropped it and put it on the dressing table.
“That thing is far too heavy,” Adele pointed out.
Daniel choked back a strained laugh. “I’ll get you a lighter one.”
Melville touched her shoulder. “Well done, Lady Adelaide. Very well done, indeed.”
THE TRAIN HAD PULLED OUT of the station and was puffing heavily, picking up speed, when Daniel tapped on the glass of the compartment door and slid it aside. “May I?” He gestured at the seat opposite Adele.
She gave a small smile. “I suppose it was too much to hope I might have the compartment to myself all the way to London.”
Daniel closed the door and sat. “Feeling unsociable, Lady Adelaide?”
“I was hoping for some time to think,” she admitted.
Daniel’s gaze met hers. “I can understand that.”
“You and Melville were rather chummy, this morning at breakfast,” Adele observed.
“That’s what you wanted to think about?”
“Among other things. Mr. Melville seems to feel that I was remarkable, which is…well, quite an odd sensation. I don’t think anyone has ever thought about me in that way before.”
“Which makes every man but Melville an idiot,” Daniel said. “Even me. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Adele gave a soft laugh. “Thank you…I think.”
Daniel reached into his coat pocket. “There is something I wanted to give you. I was hoping to do it at breakfast, but you left Balmoral too quickly.” He pulled out a small leather-bound book, which he held out to her.
Adele took it and turned it around. “Aristotle…” she breathed.
He tapped the cover. “Organon. I wouldn’t recommend trying to read it from cover to cover, though.”
She looked up at him. “Oh?”
“It’s dry as dust,” he admitted.
Adele laughed again.
“There’s many more where that volume came from,” Daniel added.
“Your coat pocket doesn’t look nearly large enough.”
He smiled. “There is a whole world of books out there from which you can acquire even more wisdom.”
Adele smoothed her thumb over the cover.
“Can I see you again, Adele?” Daniel asked, his voice low.
She looked up into his grey eyes. “Are you going to work for Mr. Melville?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “He makes it sound as though one really doesn’t have a choice in the matter—that the fate of the world rests upon doing exactly what he wants you to do, whether you feel up to the challenge or not.”
“I know how that feels,” she admitted.
Daniel leaned forward. “You aren’t about to say no because we might possibly be working for the same man sometime in the future, are you?” His tone was urgent.
Adele sat back. “I seem to have overthrown rather a lot of rules about what one should and shouldn’t do, in the last few days. I suspect one more broken rule will hardly be noticed.”
Daniel considered her. “Is that a yes, Lady Adelaide?”
She opened the book. “Yes.”
______
The Next book in the Adelaide Becket series is
The Rosewater Debutante
Adele learns just how ruthless German agents can be.
In Edwardian England, Lady Adelaide Azalea Margaret de Morville, Mrs. Hugh Becket, continues her work for William Melville, spymaster, even though it has left her with no time to live the life she would prefer, which includes spending at least a little time with Daniel Bannister.
When she refuses to travel to Germany to watch over King Edward while he visits the German Emperor to discuss disarmament of their increasingly more competitive navies, Melville gives Adele an alternative, superficial task of watching over a young, sweet debutante, Lady Winnifred.
Adele perseveres with the useless, quite horrid task of trailing an innocent girl through the Season. It puts her in the path of German agents, who demonstrate just how dark and dangerous her new work really is…
Get your copy of The Rosewater Debutante now!
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Dedication
For Merry, who was alive when I wrote this and licked her very last jam from my fingers as I finished it. We will always love you, best girl.
About the Author
Tracy Cooper-Posey is a #1 Best Selling Author. She writes historical fiction and romantic thrillers. 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 genre fiction 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/
Adelaide Becket
(Historical Suspense Series)
The Requisite Courage
The Rosewater Debutante
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
Scandalous Families – The Victorians
(Historical Romance Series – Spin off)
His Parisian Mistress
Her Rebellious Prince
Their Foreign Affair
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
Project Kobra
(Romantic Spy Thrillers)
Hunting The Kobra
Inside Man
Heart Strike
Vistaria Has Fallen
Vistaria Has Fallen
Prisoner of War
Hostage Crisis
Freedom Fighters
Casualties of War
V-Day
The Vistaria Affair (Boxed Set)
The Sherlock Holmes Series
(Romantic Suspense/Mystery)
Chronicles of the Lost Years
The Case of the Reluctant Agent
Sherlock Boxed In
Romantic Thrillers Series
Fatal Wild Child
Dead Again
Dead Double
Terror Stash
Thrilling Affair (Boxed Set)
Jewels of Tomorrow
(Historical Romantic Suspense)
Diana By The Moon
Heart of Vengeance
Go-get-’em Women
(Short Romantic Suspense Series)
The Royal Talisman
Delly’s Last Night
Vivian’s Return
Ningaloo Nights
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
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
Flesh + Blood (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
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)
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
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
The Starter Library Series
(Eclectic Sample Library)
A Dangerous Man
A Family Affair
Worlds of Wonder
Contemporary Romances
Lucifer’s Lover
An Inconvenient Lover
Contemporary Romances Boxed Set
Non-Fiction Titles
Reading Order
(Non-Fiction, Reference)
Reading Order Perpetual
Copyright Information
Published by Stories Rule Press Inc.
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Registered offices:
1100-10020 101A Avenue NW
Edmonton AB T5J 3G2
Canada
This is an original work by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Copyright © 2021
FIRST EDITION: February 2021
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.
A Stories Rule Press publication
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.
Tracy Cooper-Posey
The Requisite Courage/Tracy Cooper-Posey—1st Ed.
Historical—Fiction
Suspense—Fiction