Forbidden

Victoria Hinton

Description

A summer evening's chance encounter throws together two people of opposite social class who, despite a natural mutual attraction, should never have met. Kathryn Fitzpatrick is a lady, the daughter of a much-respected gentleman. The Fitzpatricks are loved and revered throughout English society, yet Kathryn has never conformed. She is impulsive, ruled by her heart. When she meets Duncan Brown, a lowly gardener on her father's estate, a special love is ignited. He understands and admires her. Before long an affair develops; a forbidden affair of love, passion and lust, totally unacceptable to Kathryn's family. Her life begins to spiral out of control.Her family deem her capricious ways to be a burden and her mother sees marriage as the only solution. Her elder brother Richard arranges for her to marry Mr Jonathan Lockland, a powerful gentleman of strong will who is adored by many. He seems perfect to keep Kathryn in check.Unspeakable secrets, hidden scandals, blackmail and dark passions convolute and Kathryn's life is manipulated for selfish gain. Kathryn struggles to find some happiness. Yet when Richard is found dying he sends for Kathryn and discloses how she has been deceived. Now she must fight for the man she deeply loves, and tell him all, but it is not an easy journey.Book reviews online @ www.publishedbestsellers.com

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Pneuma Springs Publishing
• Date de parution: 26 août 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781782281672
• Langue: English

Extrait

Forbidden



Victoria Hinton
Copyright
First Published in 2011 by: neuma Springs Publishing
Forbidden Copyright © 2011 Victoria Hinton
Victoria Hinton has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this Work
Pneuma Springs
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Hinton, Victoria. Forbidden. 1. Social classes--Fiction. 2. Love stories. I. Title 823.9'2-dc22
Kindle eISBN: 9781782280040 ePub eISBN: 9781782281672 PDF eBook eISBN: 9781782280880 PaperbackISBN-13: 9781907728242
Pneuma Springs Publishing E: [e-mail] W: www.pneumasprings.co.uk
Published in the United Kingdom. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, save those clearly in the public domain, is purely coincidental.
Acknowledgments
IT HAS taken me ten years to write Forbidden . Since my first draft at the age of sixteen, it has undergone many, many re-writes and changes. I’ve lived with Kathryn and Duncan inside my head for so long and, because of my passion for them and their strong presence in my life, I have to thank my mum, my brother and my sister for having to put up with them, too; for having to live with me talking about them and having to read all the little bits of the story I have thrown at them; and, of course, for their support for me and my enthusiasm for writing.
Grateful thanks are also due to my friends who have read Forbidden and given me their opinions of the story. Especially Heather and Jill, who have been absolutely dedicated to reading and re-reading it, for believing in Kathryn and Duncan as much as me, and for putting up with my constant text messaging requesting their opinions time and time again.
They’ve been extremely patient and answered truthfully, thereby providing the much needed encouragement I craved when my commitment was on the wane.
I also need to thank my granddad for the help he has given. And I am indebted to Les Davies for his hard work proof-reading my manuscript; he has been a tremendous help.
Finally, I want to thank Alan, my partner, for being so amazingly encouraging and for all the time spent going through the manuscript with me. He has unstintingly supported and believed in me and my dedication to writing. I don’t think I would have felt so confident in completing the task without his love and support.
Dedication

This book is dedicated to my crazy little
angels, Ewan and Carwyn, for
making me smile every single day.
And to Alan, for the love and the laughter
Part One: KATHRYN FITZPATRICK
Prologue
A click! It echoed loudly through the dark corridor of the great house. Her door was locked once again; for how long, no one knew. This time it was worse. Her husband’s rage had terrified every living soul in that house. Their small son sat under his bed, his hands over his ears, but it didn’t block out his father’s shouting or the sound of his fists hitting his mother. To this child, however, what he heard and sometimes saw was normal. His father had told him over and over his mother deserved it; surely what he had done was justified.
This time Mrs Geraldine Lockland had been with child. Six months into her pregnancy. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the child was now lost. When she had carried her first child, her son, Jonathan, Mr Albert Lockland had not laid a hand upon his wife. Those nine months were the longest Geraldine had ever gone without being beaten. Everyone prayed and hoped it would be the same this time, with her second pregnancy. She had been looking so well, the child was growing strong inside her and Albert had, up until that night, left his wife alone.
No one knew what it was that made him snap or where the rage came from. He was a drinker, a gambler. Of course, being a Lockland, this was all secret. No one outside of those walls knew the truth about Albert. To everyone he was a great gentleman; a proud example to his family name. No one knew of his temper, of his addictions, his obsessive and controlling behaviour. His wife was simply a sickly woman. She had been loved throughout society yet she had become a sickly lady once she was married. People believed she had always suffered from illnesses but her family had covered it up in order for her to secure a husband. No one knew she was lying in bed covered in bruising. No one knew she would have been a healthy, happy lady if her husband had let her be.
Jonathan grew up hardly seeing his mother. He never knew she cried for her son, to see him. He never knew his father stopped her. Albert wanted to control everything and everyone in his life. He made sure his son had the very best education; he made sure he had little time with his mother. Emotion turned a man soft.
Jonathan learned to accept his mother had little interest in him from a small child. He never knew the truth. He watched his father; he admired his power, his strength. He observed in awe as everyone fell at his father’s feet, male and female, and went out of their way to accommodate him. He found it exciting how both married and unmarried women were drawn to him, how they followed so easily to his bed. Jonathan knew from an early age who he wanted to emulate. His father was a great man, just as he himself would be.
What he had witnessed that night had sickened the small child. It scared him, terrified him. He had climbed out from his hiding place and walked along the dark corridor to his mother’s room. He was curious and wanted to see why people were rushing in and out; he wanted to know why his mother was still screaming in pain after his father had left, and he wanted to know why she sounded tormented, devastated. For years later he hated himself for being curious. As a servant opened the door and rushed out he saw inside. His mother was on the bed, weeping bitterly. She sobbed loudly over a tiny body, the smallest baby Jonathan had ever seen. He wasn’t moving, he wasn’t crying like babies did. And even though Jonathan was young, he knew what had happened. He knew the baby was dead. He knew his mother was crying for the loss and he could feel her heartache. In that one moment, in that one glance he had stolen, he had been so frightened. His young mind could not comprehend it properly. So he turned away back to his room. No one had noticed him; everyone had been too busy, too full of sorrow. So no one explained or spoke of it to him. He was left alone with his thoughts. He never fully understood and by the time his father had moulded him into the man he wanted him to be, Jonathan had long since buried the memory. By the time he was old enough to understand, the memory was long gone and his mother long dead.
Jonathan Lockland grew to be the man he always wanted to be, the man his father wanted him to be. He was very much Albert’s son.
One
The cool water rippled out towards the edge of the lake and rolled gently on to the sides. Duncan looked up as he finished tying the laces on his boots. Someone else was in the woods with him, swimming in the moonlight. He moved quietly along the bank, staying hidden within the trees as he looked out into the waters.
The lake was nestled in a small clearing in the woods and the full moon shone brightly down casting a silver light onto the waters. Duncan held his breath as he saw a female figure swimming naked. He knew he should not be watching, but being a nineteen-year-old man he found it impossible to look away.
Suddenly the young lady stood up in the water, revealing her body down to her waist. Duncan swallowed hard as he looked at her round, firm breasts, the nipples covered by the thick, dark hair which hung over her shoulders. He felt himself becoming deeply aroused as he traced her slim waistline, the curves of her breasts and up her slender neck to her face. There his eyes stopped, froze. She was beautiful but he had known that for a long time now.
He held the image of her naked body in his head and closed his eyes. He pictured himself sliding in to the water next to her and pressing his own naked body against hers, feeling her hot, wet skin on his and her round firm breasts pressing against his chest. Then he would take his hand and trace his finger along her deep pink lips. He imagined her cheeks would glow redder than they naturally were at his touch. And, although he could not see them in the moonlight, he knew her emerald green eyes would sparkle. Eyes as beautiful as hers should always be sparkling. He opened his own eyes to take one last look at the parts of her he had never seen before, probably never would again, but had imagined many times.
Then, as she pushed her wavy hair back behind her shoulders, she began to climb up the bank exposing the rest of her body. Duncan quickly looked away. He knew he could not watch, for no matter how much he burned to glimpse her beauty, she was, after all, a lady, the daughter of Maria and Edward Fitzpatrick of Redding Hall, the place of his employment; and he was but a lowly gardener.
Kathryn climbed out of the cool water into the hot night air. She did not pay much attention to drying herself off. She knew that by the time she arrived back at Redding Hall the heat of the night would have done that.
The air around her was still and calm. A single owl hooted softly in a tree at the other side of the lake as Kathryn dropped her nightshift over her head. The thin linen clung to her wet body making it almost transparent.
Suddenly she froze as she noticed a shadow within the trees. All of her senses heightened, her nerves pricked up, bringing her skin alive, awakening an instinctive fear. Yet as quickly