Chapter 1The Camargue, France
Late Spring, 1797
Colette D’Estaing hurried down the flagged path to the stable. She took deep breaths of the morning’s cool damp air, hoping it would clear the heat of anger from her soul.
Curse him! I am not yet Charles’s wife and he cannot force me to submit to his disgusting demands. If there is any justice in this warped world, I shall not have to marry the fiend! Somehow, perhaps I can convince Papa what a depraved libertine his dear Charles de Fayette really is!
By the time she reached the shady peace of the stable, her raging blood had calmed. A good ride would finish taking the edge off her emotions and make life tolerable again. Slipping into the tack room, she took off her heavy skirts and hung them on a convenient hook. Beneath them, she wore b
