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Lost Laughter

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Renowned for his lavish lifestyle and a roving eye, the handsome Valient, Viscount Ockley, is completely bowled over by the stunning heiress Niobe Barrington. But it is not just for her dazzling beauty that he pursues her with such ardour for, although he lives like a King, it is all on credit. In reality he is all but bankrupt and is facing the horror and squalor of the Fleet Prison for debtors and only by marrying into money can he hope to save himself and restore his ruined house to its former glory. But Niobe’s father, Sir Aylmer Barrington, will not hear of it and so arranges for Niobe to marry the ‘old and horrid’ Marquis of Porthcawl!When Niobe breaks this unwelcome news to him, the Viscount storms from her house in a rage and threatens to marry the first woman he meets rather than let anyone know that Niobe has totally humiliated him. As he drives away in his phaeton, he meets the woman he will soon marry – an eighteen year old beauty who has stowed away under a blanket at his feet. It is Niobe’s cousin, Jemima Barrington, who is fleeing the abuse and beatings she constantly suffers at Sir Aylmer’s hands.And so in a sudden marriage of convenience the ‘wrong’ Miss Barrington becomes the new Viscountess Ockley causing outrage and consternation amongst all but Jemima, who is already deeply in love with the Viscount. The question of the moment is will the Viscount ever overcome his love for her cousin?

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Author’s Note
Author’s NoteThe Fleet Prison, which stood near the Fleet Market in London was where debtors were taken and forced to stay until they were either bailed out or their debts were paid by their friends and relatives. Tobias Smollet, who was afterwards imprisoned for libel, wrote a book explaining how deplorably the prisoners were treated. Everything depended, as in other prisons, on having enough money to bribe the jailors with and to be able to purchase what they required from the innumerable hawkers, tradesmen and shops in the vicinity. There was, however, a worse hazard in the prisons even than being without money. This was the ‘jail fever’ that swept through all the prisons at this time due to insanitary conditions and bad water. Being taken to the Fleet Prison meant that one not only lost one’s freedom but very often one’s life. This is the first novel I have written in which the hero has been a Viscount. This title dates from the beginning of the tenth century and is descended from the Office of Deputy or Lieutenant (Vice-Comes) of a Count. Henry VI, crowned King of England and France, created John Lord Beaumont in 1440 ‘Viscount Beaumont in England and Vicomte Beaumont in France’. The title received precedence above all Barons, but it did not become popular until the seventeenth century. The eldest son of a Marquis or an Earl is often given the honorary title of Viscount, but in this case he is not entitled to sit in the House of Lords.

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