The struggle becomes even more acute when she finds herself admiring and then falling in love with him. As she gets to know Matthew, she is even more loath to do it, for resisting his uncle’s plans is one of the few powers Matthew has left. She is no stranger to hardship, but she cannot believe that her life now depends upon seducing a supposed madman. Grace was born to a good family and was a headstrong young girl who paid for her wildness with a soul-killing nine year marriage. It takes a little while before Grace is convinced that Matthew is not insane and for Matthew to realize that Grace is an innocent victim. And Matthew is indeed fascinated by Grace, but refuses to give in to his uncle’s plan. He has been imprisoned since he was 14 after all, and had no contact with a woman, other than his mute old housekeeper. Lord John thinks that what Matthew needs is a woman to perk him up.
When the last one a year ago resulted in the deportation to Australia of his old nurse, to whom he had run, Matthew lost some of his will to resist. Matthew has made several escape attempts over the years but all ended in failure and more abuse. Even though Matthew is now in good health, Lord John keeps him imprisoned, guarded by ruthless jailers, and subjected to quack medical treatments prescribed by doctors bribed to maintain the insanity diagnosis during their yearly visits. He also learned that his uncle had him declared insane and has been running the marquisate in Matthew’s stead ever since. When Matthew recovered months later, he had to learn to talk, walk, read and write all over again. Matthew, Marquess Sheene, has been imprisoned by his eeeee-vil uncle Lord John for 11 years, since he contracted a brain fever. But, though Matthew looks a bit wild, there is intelligence and compassion in his eyes.
Now she finds that her role is to be mistress to a madman.
Grace thought her life as a poor relation in her cousin’s household after the death of her husband was going to be difficult. After wandering around Bristol looking for the cousin who failed to pick her up from the coaching inn, she was kidnapped by two nasty specimens who took her for a prostitute. Widow Grace Paget wakes up from a laudanum-induced sleep to find herself strapped to a table and in the company of a madman. Untouched, Anna Campbell’s sophomore effort, is a flat-out terrific book whose leading man has just landed on my short list for Favorite Hero of the year.
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