Honour's Bride / Rebel

The prologue for "Honour's Bride" by Gayle Wilson begins in 1808 with Kit Montgomery, Lord St John, being given the most monumental dressing down by his father, the Earl of Ryde, for killing a man in a duel. To redeem himself he is ordered to accept a commission in the Army which Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future duke of Wellington) is taking to the Iberian peninsular. At the same time, General Aubrey McDowell is also giving orders to his child which will send her to Spain and Portugal: to repay a debt of honour, he wants his daughter Judith to marry Michael Haviland, the son of a fellow general who had once saved her father's life, and go with her husband to Spain. It isn't a love match on either side, but the parents honestly think that it is a good match for both of them. Unfortunately things are not that simple ... Cut to Portugal in 1811: Major St John and Captain Haviland, have been serving with the same regiment in the penensula for three years, and Judith Haviland has been accompanying the regiment, helping the surgeon with the wounded. St John has been hiding his feelings for his brother officer's wife, and finds it increasingly difficult to do so, particularly as Haviland does not treat her well. Then, while drunk on duty, Captain Haviland orders an insane charge which gets a large number of men killed, and is placed under arrest. St John is badly wounded, and the regiment finds itself in the way of greatly superior French reinforcements. St John, Haviland, and Judith trapped behind enemy lines with a group of mostly wounded men. To get them back to safety, and try to warn Wellington of the French threat, St John and Haviland have to make a devil's bargain, which may come back to haunt them ...


Genre: Romantic Suspense