“I want to go on discovering, Esme—children, family, home—all of life, all of love—with you.”
“Always I have thought of life as a battle,” she said shakily. “A journey, even a difficult one, is better.” Her eyes were glistening. She blinked very hard. “And better still that you wish to make your journey with me.”
“If you hadn’t been distracted by revenge and honor and the rest, you’d have deduced that ages ago.” He looked down at her. “Luckily, I’m not a very demanding spouse. I don’t mind that my wife is not brilliantly logical in every way. Or that my beautifully romantic speech did not move her to tears. One can’t have everything.”
“You do not wish me to weep,” she said. “I become very cross after. And I do not wish to be cross with you. Not tonight—even to make you laugh.” She smiled. “For it does please me to make you laugh, you know—even though at the same time I may be vexed.”
“Because you accept me just as I am, don’t you? You haven’t tried to reform me, only to hold onto me. I don’t want to reform or tame you, either, only keep you safe with me, always.”
He tilted her chin up and let himself be caught, lost in the evergreen depths of her eyes. “I love you,” he said. “Just believe it.”
“I do,” she said. “I will.”
“Then tell me something. Anything.”
“I love you, Varian Shenjt Gjergj,” she whispered, “with all my heart.”
He bent and lightly brushed his lips against hers. “Hajde, shpirti im,” he said softly. “Come, my heart, and show me.”
Author’s Note
Colonel William Martin Leake’s Travels in Northern Greece was eventually published in 1835. This, and John Cam Hobhouse’s A Journey through Albania (published 1817), were my main sources of information about early nineteenth-century Albania. This is why Janina and Prevesa, for example, are Albanian towns in the novel, though they will not appear within the country’s borders on any modern map.
At the time of the story, no Albanian alphabet existed; until recently, even modern phonetic spelling alternated, depending upon the writer, between northern and southern dialects. Consequently, early travel writers spelled Albanian words as they sounded—no easy task for the English ear—or, in the case of place names, took refuge in the Latin, Greek, or Italian versions. For simplicity’s sake, I settled, with one or two exceptions, upon contemporary Albanian usage. Thus Esme does not live in Durazzo or Drus or Duratzo or Dyrrachium, but in Durres.
On the other hand, I did retain a few words of Turkish origin, such as Y’Allah. Though rarely used in modern Albania, they would have been common in the last century.
For clarification of numerous other linguistic, physical, and historical enigmas, I thank my parents, George and Resha Chekani; my sister, Cynthia Drelinger; my uncles Mentor, Steve, and George Kerxhalli; and my cousins, Skander and Mariana Kerxhalli. The latter spent three months with us early in 1991—among the first Albanian visitors to the U.S. in fifty-odd years.
For constructive criticism, advice, general wisdom and moral support, I am, as always, deeply indebted to my husband, Walter.
Any atrocities herein perpetrated, however, are without question solely my own.
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Lord of Scoundrels
Isabella
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Knaves' Wager
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About the Author
After a heroic attempt to be an English major forever, Loretta Chase stoically accepted her degree but kept on reading and writing. As well as working in academe, she had an enlightening if brief life in retail and a Dickensian six-month experience as a meter maid. In the course of moonlighting as a corporate video scriptwriter, she succumbed to the charm of a producer, who lured her into writing novels -- and marrying him. The union has resulted in what seems like an awful lot of books and quite a few awards, including the Romance Writers of America’s Rita. Heralded as “…the long awaited successor to Georgette Heyer” by Library Journal, Loretta Chase’s historical romance novels have been published all over the world.
To learn more, please visit www.LorettaChase.com.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Author’s Note
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