One of the grandest love stories ever told, set in 18th century England and France. For Roger Montgeoffry, the handsome and talented Earl of Devane, it was a marriage of convenience; for his bride, Barbara Alderly, it was alove match. But there were considerable obstacles to overcome: Barbara's father had fled to France, disgraced as a Jacobite traitor; her mother, the lovely Diana, was notorious throughout George I's court for her very public love affairs. The projected match brings Barbara from the mellow tranquility of Tamworth to the elegant intrigue of London society, and to the opulent decadence of the French court. Here Barbara comes to the very brink of her heart's desire - to make Roger love her as she loves him, but at the moment Barbara's dream becomes reality, a devastating secret from Roger's past shatters her trust to fragments. Recoiling from her treacherous love, she flings herself with reckless abandon into the superficial gaiety of court life, flaunting her brittle beauty and myriad admirers, hiding her bleeding heart beneath a sparkling facade.
Only after scandal has threatened to destroy them both utterly can Barbara at last come to understand the greatest love of them all...
- ISBN10 0394553780
- ISBN13 9780394553788
- Publish Date 12 July 1986
- Publish Status Remaindered
- Out of Print 8 June 2011
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Random House (NY)
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 738
- Language English