Darcy Darlington and the Diamond of Desire by Maya Rodale

Darcy darlington and the diamond of desire

Chapter One ~ In which our heroine finds herself in a desperate situation.

London, 1824

There were certainly more pleasant ways to spend the evening, Darcy thought, trying to infuse some humor into a desperate situation. She stood in absolute darkness, in what she presumed was an attic because of the number of stairs her captor had dragged her up to get here. Lord only knew what creatures or corpses she shared the space with. She had really done it this time.

Being held captive by the Evil Lord Hartshorne?

Really, Darcy? Really.

Nevertheless, she had been caught looking for the supposedly magical Diamond of Desire, reputed to be in his possession. Worse luck, she hadn’t even found her object, just some old miniature portraits of a woman and her daughter; she assumed they were the late Lady and Miss Hartshorne. The ones that the Evil Lord himself had burned alive and…

Was that smoke?

She sniffed.

Oh dear lord it was! There was no mistaking it. Of course she had to be captured by the man mad enough to burn his house down out of spite. Escape was essential. For one thing, her mother and father would never manage without her. And she didn’t quite fancy meeting her demise by flame in the home of the Evil Lord Hartshorne.

With her hands outstretched before her, Darcy took baby steps through the darkness. Finally she hit a hard surface. She took sidesteps, letting the walls beneath her damp palms be her guide. After about twenty steps, her fingers crossed over a crack. Could it be…?

But she had other reasons to live. Namely, Lieutenant Tristan Cole, the man she loved, the reason she breathed, the beat of her heart, the—

A door! Her palm clasped around a doorknob. She twisted, and—

She had yet to kiss him and she refused to die without having kissed the man of her dreams.

How on earth had she gotten into this impossible situation?

To Be Continued…

| NEXT chapter