An embittered Scottish Earl blackmails an exiled Princess into helping him bring a corrupt general to justice.
Clarice Rosabel was beautiful, resourceful and desperate. She and her younger sister Amy had to keep moving so that no one would be able to find them. They sold beauty treatments to support themselves. Clarice often told her customers that the creams and ointments in her inventory were prepared according to special secret royal formulas. Like their grandmother had always told them, most people will believe a blatant lie, few people will believe the unvarnished truth and the vast majority of the people will believe a half-truth. The formulas were not very special, Clarice and Amy were royalty and that was the secret.
Clarice was the second daughter of the King and Queen of Beaumont. Beaumont was a tiny kingdom in the Pyrenees plagued by rebellion, invasion and political intrigue. For their safety, the princesses went into hiding during the most recent revolution, which had lasted for over ten years. They have not received any news of the royal family since a courier had come to the boarding school to inform them that their parents were dead, their grandmother had been deposed and their sister, the crown princess was missing. He warned them to flee for their lives. Someone would send for them when it was safe. Meanwhile, Clarice and Amy made their living selling cosmetics.
Robert Mackenzie, Earl of Hepburn, joined the army for all the wrong reasons (anger, pride and stubbornness). As a soldier, he learned to channel his anger, swallow his pride and put his stubbornness to good use. When the old Earl died, Robert returned home changed. The reckless, carefree boy was gone; in his place was a wary, suspicious man. There were rumors that the war had driven him mad.
Nevertheless, there was one thing about Robert that had not changed - he enjoyed solving mysteries. The lovely lady selling creams by the roadside was puzzling. She was too proud to make her living on the whims of others, too elegant to be a merchant and yet too beautiful, charming and worldly to be as innocent as she appeared. She claimed to be royalty and her manner was decidedly regal. She seemed to know something about changing one?s looks with a judicious use of face paint. He could use that ability. Robert had learned patience in the army. He would keep the lady close and discover as much as possible about this supposed Princess and the kingdom of Beaumont.
It was only proper for Clarice to accept the Earl?s invitation to stay at his manor home. After all, she really did not have anywhere else to go. Moreover, planning a debutante party for the Earl?s younger sister and several of his cousins was not a hardship. However, the way the Earl smiled (as if he knew a secret) soon shredded her composure.
One day, the Earl asked her if she could make herself look like someone else if he provided her with a portrait. Clarice said she might be able, but she was not willing. Then the Earl told her unless she did exactly as he wished, he would let the Beaumont rebels know where to find two of the lost princesses.
Apparently, Robert has never learned that threatening a desperate princess is often hazardous to one?s health.
This abstract was checked by WhiteSmoke Solution.
Learn more.
