Time for another Sweet Saturday Sample and today's excerpt is taken from Intrigue. This is the prologue, and I apologize for the utter lack of actual "sweetness" in this excerpt. Intrigue is the next of my Regencies in line to be published and is going through edits. This portion may or may not end up included in the final draft.
A brief blurb (which also may end up totally reworked):
Espionage was no pastime for a lady. Yet, that's exactly what Lady Brackney finds herself embroiled in, up to her pretty white neck. To make matters worse, she accepts the proposal of a complete stranger just to save herself.... and her son.
Without further ado, Intrigue...
The carriage lurched to a halt amid curses and neighing horses.
“Stand and deliver!”
The lone passenger, a striking woman in her early thirties, sucked in a breath and screamed. Her voice reverberated in the small space, threatening to permanently damage her own hearing.
With a prayer trembling on her lips, she stepped down from the conveyance, her movements shaky and unsure. She stood, cowering and miserable, as the thieves rifled through her reticule and rummaged through the carriage.
As the moments passed, she began to relax, thinking maybe, just maybe, her prayers had finally been answered.
The sound of approaching hooves put paid to any such notion. Her stomach sank to her sensible halfboots as a man on a horse charged into the fray, brandishing a pistol and threatening the bandits with any number of dire consequences should they refuse to cease their theft.
A scream rose up in the victim’s throat, a cry of anguish and warning, quickly swallowed, hastily suppressed. If the boy simply let them take what they wanted and go, everyone would be safe.
As three other armed men stepped from the trees, the young man on the horse was made quickly aware that he was in over his head. He tossed his pistol aside as ordered and leapt down, more than willing to part with a few meager possessions in exchange for his life.
And that of the lady, too, of course.
When his pockets were emptied, one of the bandits made the young man kneel, adding humiliation into the mix. A gun was placed to his head.
The lady’s breath caught in her throat, unease making her stomach clench in pain.
She stepped forward. The bandit with the gun looked at her, his eyes dead in his gaunt face. She hesitated only briefly; she did not want anyone hurt. If she could stop this, she must try.
Just as she opened her mouth to protest, a shot rang out. She watched helplessly as the body of a boy not much older than her own son fell lifeless to the ground.
*Image clipped from Half-Hours with the Highwaymen (1908) by Charles G Harper, illustrated by Paul Hardy, the author, and from old prints, page 155; Google eBook can be found HERE.
*Image clipped from Half-Hours with the Highwaymen (1908) by Charles G Harper, illustrated by Paul Hardy, the author, and from old prints, page 155; Google eBook can be found HERE.
I'm not entirely sure what to say after that so I'll just say THANK YOU for stopping by and taking the time to read this snippet of my current WIP. Please take a moment to peruse the other Sweet Saturday Samples by following this link: http://sweetsatsample.wordpress.com.
♥Happy reading, writing, and blogging!!♥
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5 comments:
Exciting and disturbing sample! The highwaymen sound terrifying though they don't seem bent on harming het. Yet. Great snippet.
very intriguing indeed.
Oh wow! That is some sample. I want to read more. As for the blurbs, my own humble opinion is that you give away too much in the longer version.
Wow! I now want to read this one. :)
Thank you all for stopping by and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed this not so "sweet" excerpt. :O)
Sherry, thank you! I always worry about that exact thing. I think I will edit this post and remove the longer blurb, and rework it.
♥
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