Reviewed by Fran
Set within Regency England 1816
(post-Waterloo) this is a poignant tale of two people shrouding personal secrets
from the world at large. And of course etiquette of the period oft, no doubt,
led to people attending functions and social gatherings when they would have preferred
paying visit anywhere but where they were, even though personal pleasure might
be possible with old and new acquaintances in discreet manner. And whilst the
fifth Earl of Arlington’s foolhardy indulgences gain him momentary
gratification - on two counts - the ramifications of one encounter is set to
cost his victim dear in shame, compromise, and then despair. But can a rake
ever be reformed, and is love merely a figment of momentary imagination? A
delightful, nicely-paced short novella. Bear in mind this is fiction, so a
little poetic licence passes muster to do with Regency Rakes in general.
