Barbara Taylor Bradford - In the Lion’s Den

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019

Copyright © Barbara Taylor Bradford 2019

Cover photographs © Lee Avison/Trevillion Images

Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019

Barbara Taylor Bradford asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008242466

Ebook Edition © November 2019 ISBN: 9780008242480

Version: 2020-08-05

For my darling Bob, with my love

Contents

Cover

Title Page IN THE LION’S DEN Barbara Taylor Bradford

Copyright

Dedication

Characters

PART ONE:

HONOUR & LOYALTY PART ONE

London/Kent 1889 PART ONE

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

PART TWO:

TRUE FRIENDSHIP PART TWO

London/Hull/Gloucestershire 1890 PART TWO

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

PART THREE:

UNEXPECTED REVELATIONS

London/Hull/Kent 1890

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

PART FOUR:

TAKING CHANCES

London 1891–2

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Epilogue

Keep Reading …

About the Author

Books by Barbara Taylor Bradford

About the Publisher

THE FALCONERS

Philip Henry Rosewood Falconer, founder of the dynasty; a head butler.

Esther Marie Falconer, his wife and co-founder of the dynasty; a head housekeeper.

Their sons

Matthew Falconer, his eldest son and heir; a stall owner at the Malvern Market.

George Falconer, a noted journalist on The Chronicle daily newspaper.

Harry Falconer, a chef and owner of a café, the Rendezvous.

Their grandchildren (Matthew’s offspring)

James Lionel, an ambitious young businessman on the rise.

Rosalind, known as Rossi, a seamstress.

Edward Albert, assistant to his father on the stalls.

Their daughter-in-law

Maude Falconer, Matthew’s wife and mother of his children; a seamstress.

THE VENABLES

Clarence Venables, Esther Falconer’s brother-in-law, great-uncle of James Falconer, owner of a shipping company in Hull.

Marina Venables, Clarence’s wife and younger sister of Esther Falconer. Great-aunt of James Falconer. A noted artist.

Their children

William Venables, eldest son and heir, working at the Hull shipping company.

Albert Venables, second son, working at the Hull shipping company.

Their daughter-in-law

Anne Venables, Albert’s wife.

THE MALVERNS

Henry Ashton Malvern, owner of the Malvern Company, a big business enterprise and real-estate company.

Alexis Malvern, his only child and heir; a partner in the business.