Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter

by A. E. Moorat

  'Oh,' said Quimby, smiling sweatily, 'I'm sure that won't be necessary.'

  He opened the door to the library and all three of the men walked in. A man was already in the library, and was sitting in a leather chair eating what the two policeman took to be breakfast from a plate on a side table.

  'You see, my friend here will be able to vouch for me, whatever the circumstances, isn't that right?' Quimby indicated Lord Melbourne, who sat still eating. Quimby added, 'Isn't that right, Prime Minister?'

  With great relish, the Prime Minister took a bite from something that looked like a large length of meat, and the juices glistened on his chin.

  He looked at Quimby, and smiled.

  A note on historical accuracy

  Though I have of course played fast and loose with history, the main action of the book adheres as closely to the real-life events of Victoria's life as was humanly possible, given the demands of weaving in the fictional elements-though I have conflated some events and massaged certain timelines. Meanwhile, all anachronisms are intentional, even those that are not.

  Acknowledgments

  Firstly thanks so much to Kate Howard and Carolyn Mays at Hodder. Not only were they the book's midwives, but they excelled at being there when needed and not there when not. I hope I've repaid their faith. Also at Hodder I'd like to say thank you to Katie Hall and Katie Davison for their work on this book, but also to Henry and Jocasta and Fenella and Cecilia and Helen for being wonderful and supportive in past lives. A million thanks to my agent Antony Topping for, well, everything. To Justine Taylor for a great copy-edit. To Dave Taylor for overcoming his fear of rats to read on and give me invaluable feedback. To David Granger and Toby Tennant for being inimitable. To families Holmes, Oakley and Harrison for endless, endless help. And lastly to Dylan, for bringing me so much joy, and then more joy.

  About the Author

  In another incarnation as a more serious (though still satirical) author, A. E. MOORAT has won critical acclaim and been shortlisted for awards. Here, however, he was chained in the dungeon, fed tea and ghost stories, and kept busy writing the adventures of Queen Victoria, Demon Hunter.

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  Credits

  Cover design by Richard Aquan

  Cover illustration by Roberto Parada

  Copyright

  QUEEN VICTORIA: DEMON HUNTER. Copyright (c) 2009 by Andrew Holmes. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

  EPub Edition (c) December 2009 ISBN: 978-0-06-199133-2

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  About the Publisher

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  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Contents

  Part One

  I

  II

  III

  IV

  V

  VI

  VII

  VIII

  IX

  Part Two

  X

  XI

  XII

  XIII

  XIV

  XV

  XVI

  XVII

  XVIII

  XIX

  XX

  XXI

  XXII

  XXIII

  XXIV

  XXV

  Part Three

  XXVI

  XXVII

  XXVIII

  XXIX

  XXX

  XXXI

  XXXII

  XXXIII

  XXXIV

  XXXV

  XXXVI

  XXXVII

  XXXVIII

  XXXIX

  XL

  XLI

  XLII

  XLIII

  XLIV

  XLV

  XLVI

  XLVII

  XLVIII

  XLIX

  A Note On Historical Accuracy

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher