Heart of Courage (The Heart Trilogy, 3) - Softcover

Martin, Kat

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0778326098 ISBN 13: 9780778326090

Verlag: MIRA, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

Under the pert pen name "Lady Smart," opinionated Lindsey Graham crusades for social change among London's elite, writing for the ladies' gazette Heart to Heart. But Lindsey's greatest campaign begins when her brother Rudy, a notorious rake, is accused of murdering a string of prostitutes.

Her confidence in his innocence is bolstered when an anonymous letter arrives naming Viscount Merrick as the killer. Lindsey launches her own investigation into the gentleman's questionable pursuits, a risky venture that earns her an unwelcome bodyguard—Thor Draugr.

At first, Lindsey refuses the protection of her employer's brother-in-law. They are like oil and water, yet she can barely conceal her attraction to the rugged Norseman. But an attempt on her life reveals not only the lengths that someone will go to in order to prevent her interference in the viscount's sordid affairs, but that she can no longer deny that she desires the warrior by her side.…

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Top ten New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara.  Residing with her Western-author husband, L.J. Martin, in Missoula, Montana, Kat has written 70 Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than 17 million of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Kat is currently hard at work on her next novel.    

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London, England September, 1844

COVENT GARDEN KILLER STRIKES AGAIN.

Londoners grow nervous.

Thor scanned the front page article in the London Times? details of the second brutal murder in the Covent Garden district in the last six months.

Unlike his older brother, Leif, Thor wasn't much of a reader. He figured the best use for a newspaper was to wrap up dead fish. He admitted it was probably important to keep up with what was happening around him, so he struggled through the English words, a language he had only started learning a little over two years ago. Before that, he had lived on an island far to the north, an isolated world only a handful of people knew existed.

With the help of his teacher, Professor Paxton Hart, he had learned to read and write, how to dress and move about in English society. Leif and his wife helped as well, and life here grew easier all the time. Still, Thor liked being out of doors, not inside reading a book.

"So you're the one who stole my paper!" An indignant female voice snagged his attention. "I've been looking all over." Hands on hips, Lindsey Graham marched across the office like a raven swooping down on its prey.

Holding the evidence of his guilt in one big hand, Thor stood in the doorway of the back room of Heart to Heart, the ladies' magazine owned by his brother's wife, Krista Hart Draugr, and her father, his teacher, Sir Paxton Hart. It was Thursday, the day before the paper came out, and the office hummed with activity.

"I did not steal it," he said to the avenging angel bearing down on him. "I borrowed it. I wanted to know about the murder."

Her eyes shot to his, a tawny golden color like the she-cat she was. "There was a second murder?"

He nodded, held the paper so she could read the headline. "Down in Covent Garden," he said. "Same as before."

Lindsey took the newspaper and scanned the article. She was taller than the average woman, yet far shorter than his six-foot-five-inch frame. She was slender, her hair a light golden brown. With her fine-boned, delicate features, she was pretty, but not in the way he preferred.

Like his brother, he wanted his women lusty, buxom and full-breasted, the kind built to satisfy a man. Leif had found Krista, the mate of his heart. Thor was still looking for the female who would be his.

"Another woman killed," Lindsey said, her tawny gaze glued to the page, "strangled just like the last time. The police believe the same man is likely responsible."

Lindsey was editor of the women's section of the paper and also wrote a gossip column called Heartbeat. She was a hard worker, he knew, a quality he admired since he worked so hard himself. Whenever he wasn't down at the docks, bossing the stevedores who loaded and unloaded the cargo carried by his brother's company, Valhalla Shipping, he worked for Heart to Heart. He was saving his money to buy a place in the country, far away from the choking air of London.

"Here's something new," Lindsey went on, her fine, straight nose immersed in the printed lines. "It says the women who were killed were 'ladies of the evening.'"

"Whores," Thor said simply.

Lindsey blushed. "That does not mean it is all right for someone to kill them."

"I did not say that."

She sighed. "I feel sorry for the people who live in the neighborhood. Two murders in the last six months. They must be terrified. I certainly hope the police apprehend him this time."

"The paper says they have found clues. They believe they will soon have a suspect. Mayhap this time they will catch him."

"I wonder what they have discovered."

Thor made no reply, since neither of them knew the answer. Engrossed in the paper, Lindsey wandered over to her desk, sat down and continued to read. In the middle of the room, the big Stanhope press sat silent, but soon the next edition would be rumbling off for sale on the streets.

Thor liked to watch the press at work. In truth, he was amazed by the heavy machinery he had seen since his arrival in England, equipment that could spin cotton into cloth, or press glass into various shapes and sizes. There were even powerful steam machines called locomotives that could carry people to distant places in hours instead of days.

There was nothing like that on the remote island of Draugr where he and Leif had been born and raised. People on Draugr still lived as they had hundreds of years ago. They were warriors and farmers, not city dwellers like the people in London.

Flashing a smile at the typesetter, Bessie Briggs, an older woman who mothered him as if he were her son, he went back to work stacking boxes and crates, making room for tomorrow's papers.

It was only a few minutes later that the bell rang above the front door, drawing his attention to a thin man, slightly beak-nosed and dark-haired, who walked into the office. Dressed in an expensive-looking dark brown tailcoat and tan trousers, he carried one of those stupid high hats London men favored and Thor flatly refused to wear.

Returning to his work, he forgot about the man until he heard voices raised in anger. Saying a grateful prayer that this time the object of Lindsey's wrath was someone else, he gazed through the door in her direction and saw the well-dressed man standing next to her desk. They were arguing. Noticing the hard set of the man's jaw, the blood-lust in his eyes, Thor's senses went on alert.

Lindsey clamped her hands on her hips. "I don't give a fig whether you bloody well like it or not. If you hadn't been cheating on your wife, I wouldn't have found out and I wouldn't have written about you in my column!"

"You little bitch! My wife is threatening divorce. I am the Earl of Fulcroft and a Whitfield, and Whitfields do not divorce! You will write a retraction immediately or I will personally see you ruined!"

"And how, may I ask, do you intend to do that?"

A grim smile curved the earl's lips. "I will dig into your past until I find something that will scandalize the very people your column is meant to impress. There will be something?there always is?no matter how young and innocent you seem. And I shall keep digging until I find it! Then we'll see how much you 'bloody well like it!'"

Thor had heard enough. Seeing Lindsey's face had turned a little pale, he strode toward Fulcroft, grabbed him by the lapels of his expensive coat and jerked him up on his toes.

"You are finished with your threats to the lady. You will apologize for the name you called her and then you will leave."

"Put me down this instant!"

Ignoring the stunned look on Lindsey's face, Thor shook him like the rat he was. "I said you will apologize. Do it now."

The earl dangled there, his feet swinging, his shiny leather shoes dangling several inches above the floor. "All right, all right. I'm sorry I called you a bitch. Now put me down!"

Thor set the man back on his feet and the earl eased toward the door. He pierced Lindsey with a glare. "Your bulldog notwithstanding, I meant every word. I'll expect to read your retraction in the next edition of the paper."

"Don't hold your breath!" Lindsey called after him as he turned and hurried out of the office.

Thor was feeling well pleased with himself when Lindsey rounded on him. "Don't you ever do that again!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You interfered in my business. I can deal with my problems myself. I don't need any help from you."

Thor clenched his jaw. "You wished for the man to continue his insults? You did not mind that he called you a female dog?"

Her eyes widened. Then a corner of her mouth twitched. "I minded. But I could have handled him myself."

"Fine. The next time a man insults you, I will pretend not to hear. Does that suit you, lady?"

Her eyes held his an instant before she glanced away. "It suits me. I don't need your help or anyone else's."

Thor shook his head. "Stubborn as an ugly horse."

"You mean mule,"...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: MIRA
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0778326098
• ISBN 13: 9780778326090
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 416
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: HarperCollins Publishers, Product Safety Manager; enquiries@harpercollins.ie; ; HarperCollins, Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper; Dublin 1; D01 C9W8; Irland