The Baron Returns
An aristocratic soldier plunges into the perilous heart of the French Revolution…
Devon and Brittany, 1795
In the aftermath of the bloody French Revolution, the British government is anxious to prevent revolutionary ideals from crossing the Channel.
As a seasoned army captain with an estate at Kergohan in Brittany, English-French aristocrat Justin Wentworth is sent to France to assist the Chouannerie — a royalist uprising against the new regime.
Back at Chittesleigh Manor, his Devonshire estate, Justin’s mother and sister Amelia anxiously await his return, alongside Amelia’s friend Arabella Wollaston. Harbouring a secret affection for Justin, Arabella listens carefully for clues about his movements.
When she notices suspicious behaviour around Chittesleigh, Arabella suspects that the Wentworth family is being watched and decides to discreetly investigate.
But with plots and treachery seemingly rife throughout the realm, she soon begins to wonder whether she has stumbled across a wider web of subterfuge…
Who is spying on the Wentworth family? Who can Arabella trust?
And will Justin be able to face his past at Kergohan, in the devotion of the orphan Gilles to him, while surviving his dangerous mission…?
Heir to the Manor
Worlds collide as the Wentworth family is caught between two worlds…
Devon and Brittany, 1796
As the conflict in France creates uncertainty and fear, the family confronts ruthlessness on either side of the Channel…
Staying with friends in Cornwall and Plymouth, Amelia Wentworth chooses to widen her social circles at soirees and assemblies. Finding herself in the company of several eligible gentlemen, she becomes particularly charmed by the attentions of a young Cornishman, Lieutenant Tregothan.
After fighting in France, Justin Wentworth has married Arabella, his sister Amelia’s friend, and the two are living at the family home in Devon, Chittesleigh Manor. However, Arabella has a sense of responsibility for Amelia, and vows to find a way to protect her from a man she suspects to be totally unscrupulous.
Life at Kergohan manor has changed for Gilles, with the arrival of Daniel and his niece Héloϊse Argoubet from Saint-Domingue. But when her uncle leaves to seek for answers about her fortune, Héloϊse finds herself hunted by sinister and brutal figures from Saint-Domingue…
Lady at the Lodge
The Wentworth family faces unexpected threats, while Gilles in Brittany pursues the mystery of his birth…
England and Brittany, 1796
Rumours of a planned French invasion of Ireland have reached the British military leaders, and Justin’s friend Eugene is sent to Brittany with a young French Canadian woman called Coline to find out more…
Despite all the uncertainties of wartime, Justin and Amelia’s mother Sempronie decides to visit her birthplace, Kergohan, to right a wrong involving a young orphan, Gilles. But her hopes of resolving the dispute over inheritance of Kergohan are left in doubt by the growing involvement of her calculating nephew Laurent Guèvremont, and his hold over Gilles.
Recovering from the revelation of the cruelty of Lieutenant Tregothan, Amelia Wentworth is now seeking distraction in London society, and becoming involved with the abolitionist movement. But the past proves ominously unwilling to leave her alone…
Living peacefully in Devonshire, Justin and Arabella are expecting their first child. Though grateful for her good fortune, Arabella is impatient with Justin’s cossetting and misses her old independence. Despite her good sense, her determination to be active seems set to land her in dreadful danger.
And Eugene’s abrupt return to England sends him on an urgent quest to find Amelia, who is now missing…
Moonlight at Cuckmere Haven
Can family ties withstand the events of the past?
England and Brittany, 1796
In London on business, father-to-be Justin Wentworth chases a thief only to be confronted by a face from his Canadian past — Coline — and the news that he already has a daughter.
Amelia Wentworth is in Sussex enjoying the delights of sea-bathing with her Plymouth companion, Caroline North. When Caroline catches sight of a dangerous adversary in the crowd at the Brighton races — the disgraced Lieutenant Tregothen — she writes to her brother, Colonel North, who rides urgently to their aid…
At Chittesleigh Manor in Devonshire, pregnant Arabella is disturbed by a brief note from Justin extending his absence from her. She decides to call on help from Justin’s friend Eugene, asking him to inquire after Justin in London. Eugene suspects that Coline is somehow involved in Justin’s disappearance, and follows both of them secretly to St Helen’s on the Isle of Wight, in an attempt to solve the mystery…
At Kergohan in Brittany, the manor is coming to life again, and villagers celebrate as bread is baked once again in the large oven. But the gathering is interrupted by the arrival of Laurent Guèvremont, who explains to Héloïse that he has an obligation derived from her father to prepare her for life in French society. Gradually Gilles begins to feel left behind…
Eugene, who has despaired of engaging Amelia’s affections, chooses to enlist as a marine aboard HMS Amphion, taking his leave of her. But the Amphion is destined never to leave the dock at Plymouth… In Sussex, Colonel North brings the hunt for Tregothen to a dramatic climax on the smuggling beach at Cuckmere Haven.
Gilles and Héloϊse quarrel extravagantly at a masquerade ball, but will attending the wedding of friends in a forest glade at Kergohan finally bring them together?
Many questions urgently require resolution. Will Eugene survive the catastrophe of the Amphion unharmed? Will Tregothen’s dark soul escape pursuit? And should we believe that the child shown to Justin by Coline is the result of the affair with him in Canada?
The final novel of the saga provides satisfying answers to all of them…
Graham Ley 