The Regency Rakes Triology

An Affair of Honor
Book Three
by: Candice Hern

On the Thornhill equestrian/stud farm in Suffolk, Meg Ashburton finds the wreckage of a curricle belonging to Colin Herriot, Viscount Sedgewick.  She danced with him some six years prior and fell in love with his beauty and charm. He was the only one who would dance with the six foot, gangly redhead, and she never forgot him.

With the help of her brother, Sir Terrence Ashburton, they brought him home and under the care of their herbalist grandmother, Mrs. Lattimer, together nursed him back to health.  He went in and out of a coma and, during his conscious periods, he swore there was a red haired angel looking over him. When he finally came to, Meg tendeded him and kept him company during the long hours of the day when he was stuck in bed with a broken leg. He was smitten with her beauty and the regal way she carried herself.

Our hero began experiencing a series of 'accidents' starting with the wreckage of his curricle. Ashburton found the front axle cut almost through, but Sedge insisted it was an accident.  After he became fully conscious he was to drink an herbal tea made by Gram. Meg happened to recognize something about the drink did not smell right and prevented him from drinking, what turned out to be, a poisonous mixture. When he finally was able to walk about with crutches, he almost slipped on an oily mixture at the landing of the stairs. Again, Meg was assisting him and saw it before Sedge stepped in it, thus preventing a certain broken neck or death.

At this point the ever present, ever helpful cousin, Albert, had a talk with Terrence, suggesting that Meg was getting too close to Sedge and would certainly get her heart broken.  On the way back to his London home he was stopped by some thieves. He shot one and the other two scattered.  Then at his home, his bedclothes caught fire.

Through a series of miscommunications, Sedge's proposal of marriage did not come across as such, it sounded like he wanted her for his mistress. When Terrence learned of this, a dual ensued. Meg put on her breeches and went to stop it because she knew there was someone in common with these accidental occurrences. Another almost mishap shone a light on the betrayer.

This is an exciting story of love, friendship and family. A well written first edition of the series, not serial. There is good dramatization  and character development. A perfect weekend read.