© 2000
Dear Reader,
Temporary Mistress came to life as a fleeting image in my mind. In a shadowed room with candles flickering and malice heavy in the air, an elderly lawyer is reading a will. A young woman is weeping, her grandfather having died only recently. But her relatives are untouched by sorrow, for their niece and cousin is delegated sole heir of a fortune they wish for themselves, and bitterly resentful, they regard her with hatred.
That was the first time I saw Isabella Leslie and I could tell she was going to need some help.
At the same time, Dermott Ramsay, Earl of Bathurst, is gambling in London's finest brothel, unaware of Isabella or her problems and indifferent, in any event, to all but the pursuit of pleasure.
An unlikely pair to ever meet.
Except for the hand of fate and the feeling I had that they'd enjoy getting acquainted.
I hope you enjoy the course of their friendship too.
Best wishes,