Suddenly Charity felt very breathless, gazing up into the masked face and seeing the glint of the candlelight in his eyes.

      There was only the length of the pin between them. She did not resist when he took her wrist and deflected the sharp point away from his body.

      What was she doing? Alarmed, she dropped the brooch and put her free hand against his chest, but even as she opened her mouth to scream he captured her mouth, kissing her so ruthlessly that her bones melted under the onslaught. It was over in an instant. She was still gathering herself to resist him when he released her.

      ‘Yes,’ he said, his breathing a little ragged. ‘I was not wrong.’

      ‘A-about what?’

      ‘You kiss like an angel.’

      In one swift, fluid movement he turned away from her, threw up the sash and slipped out into the darkness.

      Charity ran to the window, but there was no sign of anyone and only the soft drumming of hoofbeats fading into the night.

      AUTHOR NOTE

      I first ‘met’ Charity Weston when I was writing an earlier book, LADY BENEATH THE VEIL. Then she was a successful London actress, calling herself Agnes Bennet and not behaving at all well. However, seeing the true happiness Gideon and Dominique achieved was a turning point for her, and she decided it was time to make a new start.

      I knew then that I wanted to write Charity's story—to show her facing up to her past and using her real name, despite the fact that it might bring her back into the sphere of her abusive father.

      Actresses in the Regency period could be fabulously successful, but they lived on the fringes of polite society. Some married, and one or two married very well. Others acquired a rich protector and some, like Charity, earned enough to secure their independence and were loath to relinquish all their worldly goods to a husband.

      At the beginning of this book Charity is still an actress, but she is aware that she wants something more from her life—in modern parlance we might say she is aware of her biological clock ticking away! Then she meets the mysterious highwayman, ‘The Dark Rider’, who is so fickle that sometimes all he takes from his female victims is one sizzling kiss. After that encounter Charity's life will never be the same again.

      I do hope you enjoy Charity's story. She is a strong lady, determined to fight injustice, and when she meets her hero she proves herself to be a worthy partner for him!

      Happy reading.

      At the

      Highwayman’s Pleasure

      Sarah Mallory