Susan Krinard - Lord of Sin

“A master of atmosphere and description.”

—Library Journal

“Susan Krinard was born to write romance.”

—New York Times bestselling author Amanda Quick

Magical, mystical, and moving…fans will be delighted.”

—Booklist on The Forest Lord

“A darkly magical story of love, betrayal, and redemption…

Krinard is a bestselling, highly regarded writer who is deservedly carving out a niche in the romance arena.”

—Library Journal on The Forest Lord

“A poignant tale of redemption.”

—Booklist on To Tame a Wolf

“With riveting dialogue and passionate characters,

Ms. Krinard exemplifies her exceptional knack for creating an extraordinary story of love, strength, courage and compassion.”

—RT Book Reviews on Secret of the Wolf

Nuala, Lady Charles- wife of the late Lord CharlesParkhill. Formerly known as the maid “Nola.”

Deborah- Lady Orwell, wife of the late Lawrence, Viscount Orwell

Tameri- Dowager Duchess of Vardon

Frances- Lady Selfridge

Lillian- Lady Meadows

Margaret “Maggie,”- Lady Riordan

Julia Summerhayes

Clara- Lady John Pickering

Victoria- Dowager Marchioness of Oxenham, Nuala’s mother-in-law

Christian Starling- Nuala’s first husband

Ioan Davies- a Welshman, Deborah’s friend from Whitechapel

Bray- a Whitechapel troublemaker

Mrs. Simkin- a wisewoman of Suffolk

St. John (Sinjin Ware)- Earl of Donnington

Felix Melbyrne- Sinjin’s protégé

Lord Peter Breakspear

Harrison- Lord Waybury

Achilles Nash

Sir Harry Ferrer

Ivar- Lord Reddick

Leo Erskine- second son of the Earl of Elston, Sinjin’s best friend

Adele Chaplin- Sinjin’s mistress

Jennie Tissier- Felix’s potential mistress

Mrs. Laidlaw

Lady Winthrop

Lady Andrew

Lord Manwaring

Mr. Hepburn

Mr. Keaton

Mr. Roaman

Lieutenant Richard Osbourne

Lady Rush

Lady Bensham

Mrs. Eccleston- matchmaking mama

Miss Laetitia Eccleston- unfortunate daughter of Mrs. Eccleston

Bremner- Nuala’s coachman

Stella- Deborah’s maid

Booth- Nuala’s maid

Harold- Nuala’s footman

Jacques- Deborah’s footman

Hedley- Sinjin’s butler

Babu- Tameri’s footman

Shenti- Tameri’s footman

Ginny- a scullery maid

Pamela- Lady Westlake, Sinjin’s late lover

Lady Shaw & Sir Percival Shaw- Deborah’s late parents

Aunt and Uncle Turner- Nuala’s late aunt and uncle Sally, Nuala’s late cousin

Comfort Makepeace- a witch-finder

Martin Makepeace- his son

Mariah Marron- former Countess of Donnington (Lord of Legends)

Ashton Cornell- also known as Arion, King of the Unicorns (Lord of Legends)

Giles- late Earl of Donnington, Sinjin’s elder brother (Lord of Legends)

Cairbre- a lord of the Fane (Lord of Legends)

Also available from Susan Krinard

LORD OF LEGENDS

COME THE NIGHT

DARK OF THE MOON

CHASING MIDNIGHT

LORD OF THE BEASTS

TO TAME A WOLF

LORD OF SIN

Susan Krinard

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Bigotry and intolerance, silenced by argument , endeavors to silence by persecution, in old days by fire and sword, in modern days by the tongue .

—Charles Simmons

London, 1889

“I SHALL NEVER MARRY AGAIN!”

Deborah, Lady Orwell, faced her interlocutors bravely, chin up, dark hair perfectly coiffed in spite of her prolonged state of grief. She still wore black even after eighteen months of widowhood.

Nuala sighed. A quick glance about at her fellow widows convinced her that Lady Orwell’s bid for membership would face less than unqualified support. Most had been out of mourning for at least two full years, and none found their grief so intolerable as this young girl who could not possibly have much experience of the world.

I shall never marry again . That was the credo of the Widows’ Club, the common ground that brought them together. For her part, Nuala had few doubts about her fellow members’ sincerity. But this girl—this naive girl who had married so young—would have ample opportunities to love again.

Not that her suffering should be taken lightly. Nuala still grieved for her husband of six months, Lord Charles Parkhill, though she had known from the beginning that their union would be of short duration. Had he lived longer, she might have come to love him, might have become more than a companion and nurse to comfort him in his declining days.

But never could she feel the sort of love Lady Orwell professed. That was almost two and a half centuries behind her.

“My dear Lady Orwell,” Tameri, the dowager Duchess of Vardon, said gently, “we must consult on your case. Will you make yourself comfortable until we return? Shenti will provide you with anything you require.”

Lady Orwell sniffed very quietly. “Of course,” she said. “I quite understand.”

The ladies rose. They followed Tameri out of the Gold drawing room and into the larger Silver, where they settled themselves in the somewhat uncomfortable wooden chairs the former duchess had commissioned when she had furnished the town house in the Egyptian style. Reproductions of ancient gods gazed down upon them with various degrees of severity and benevolence: gods with the heads of cats, of crocodiles, of jackals. Not for the first time, Nuala found herself distracted by their glittering stares.

Once such gods had presided over a potent mystic tradition, perhaps the precursor to the magic Nuala’s own people had practiced for millennia. That which she had once practiced, before…