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the sword. Bernhard drew in his breath at this
Klaus gave a gasp as the blade pierced his flesh，
d his teeth to fight on， but Bernhard cried，
ld stepped in.
aas been spilt，\" he declared sternly to Gorstein.
Gorstein shrieked. \"To the death.\"
death，\" Klaus repeated， his face pale and livid.
:k， Bernhard. It s too late.\"
:hed onto the attack but his foe glided away like
~shing viciously. Gorstein s eyes were glittering
~leasure as the final moment approached， a mo-
hich he was being well paid. A cunning flick of
ad Klaus s blade went spinning from his hand，
I defenseless against Gorstein s murderous at-
amy s sword was raised...
~ot rang out from the direction of some nearby
next second， Gorstein had fallen to the ground，
1son stain spreading over his white shirtfront. He
kot clean through the heart.
Chapter One
That summer of 1865， society was dominated by the bril-
liant young Prince and Princess of Wales， who seemed set
on turning everything into pleasure， and among the many
shining lights of their crowd， none dazzled more brilliantly
than Leonie， Dowager Duchess of Coniston. She was ab-
su~ly young for a dowager， being only twenty-seven， and
in 0ae four years of her widowhood she d set international
soe~y alight with her beauty， charm and tireless energy.
Despite not having gone to bed until the small hours，
she d been up early this morning， advancing to meet the
dawn in a tight-fitting riding habit that showed off every
curve of her slim body， and enjoying a vigorous ride in Hyde
Park. She returned to Coniston House， the palatial Lon-
don mansion of the Duke of Coniston， to find the rest of the
family at breakfast. Gwendolyn， the present duchess， turned
acid eyes on her. It was the bane of Gwendolyn s life that her
fatber-in-law had taken as his second wife a beautiful young
woman less than a third his age， and that in consequence she
had a mother-in-law twenty years younger than herself. It
was worse still that Leonie periodically inflicted herself on
her husband s long-suffering family， reducing the house to
turmoil with her dashing ways.
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