Desperate Measures [antikvár]

chapter i BEDROOM SCENE At two o'clock in the morning on July 20th, 1814, Roger Brook—in whose favour his family's title, Earl of Kildonan, had recently been revived as a reward for many years of successful missions—and Georgina, Duchess of Kew, were lying naked side by side in bed. They were both in their middle forties. Roger looked his age. The many dangers he had faced had caused his mouth to set grimly when in repose, and there were wrinkles round his bright blue eyes. His hair was grey, except for the wings above his ears, which were white and added a distinguished touch to his strong, regular features. His body was muscular and still slim, on account of the many thousands of miles he had ridden during Napoleon's wars. Those wars had ceased only the previous April, on the Emperor's abdication. Roger had been lucky, for he had been wounded seriously only three times: a bullet through the chest at Marengo, a badly broken ankle when his horse had been shot under him at Eylau and, more recently, his left calf had been blown to ribbons by a German guerilla who had shot at him from a wood while he had been riding alone along a road near Dresden. This last injury he resented intensely, as he had been proud of his shapely legs