Читать книгу Conquering Knight, Captive Lady - Anne O'Brien, Anne O'Brien - Страница 3

Dear Reader

Rosamund, my heroine, escapes from her family to take refuge in Clifford Castle, which today is an atmospheric ruin on the bank of the River Wye in the Welsh Marches, not many miles from where I live. A tale is told of a lady who, in medieval times, was besieged there, taken prisoner by a local robber lord and forced to accept his hand in marriage. When the King came to hear of it he descended with an army, punished the lord for his despicable exploit and offered the bride her freedom and a purse of gold. Instead of snatching at the chance, the lady refused the King’s justice and would not be parted from her impetuous husband.

And that, I thought when I read it, is the stuff of romance. I could not resist such a glamorous opportunity. It inspired me to explore the wilful passion between Rosamund and her own robber lord, Gervase Fitz Osbern. I have created for them a difficult path to travel before they can accept that one cannot live without the other, as I am certain the original lovers too experienced. Rosamund has to learn that sometimes a man needs to be seduced into a compromise, without his knowing it, when all the time he thinks that his is the controlling hand. Whilst Gervase, almost too late, realises that military force is not the way to his lover’s heart.

I hope that you enjoy Rosamund and Gervase’s journey of discovery as much as I did writing it.

As for Mills & Boon, I owe them so much—not least that they gave me my first opportunity to write historical romances for my own, and your, pleasure. I know you will join me in wishing them Happy Birthday for their magnificent centenary.

Anne