A few of my Villains

 

 An adventure story needs a few motivated villains.

But what constitutes villainy? 

In a Regency Era Tale of adventure and intrigue, villains of various types must feature, to thwart the efforts of the well-meaning characters and twist events to their own evil ends.

Whether through misfortune, cravings for power and wealth, or fanatical political ideals, each villain has a particular reason for their mindset and actions. Some start out as perfectly legitimate positions. 

     

However, being dedicated to a Cause often means being blind to any other point of view. Thus the angry, stubborn fanatic behaves in a way that defines him or her as a villain. Torture, mutilation and murder are sometimes part of the job.

    

       

  

Another type of villainy comes from selfishness and pure greed. 

Lord Percival loves money and has several villainous ways of adding to his wealth.

Good-looking, sharp-dressed, suave and arrogant, he attracts impressionable young men into his hard-living circle. They tend to lose large sums of money to him. Among others, he has ruined our heroine’s brother and wants Sarah as payment of the debt.

And of course in a Regency tale worth its salt there have to be Rakes. 

So in The Rake's Challenge, among other villains there are four Rakes on the prowl. Two are brothers, young and enjoying life. One is [ahem] the Prince Regent and then there is Sir Bilton Kelly, whose job is to find pretty young ladies to entertain the Prince.                                                      

There is also the diamond-loving Sophia, the discarded mistress, determined to win her lover back. She really knows how to play dirty to achieve her aims. 

  

IN ALL HONOUR

In All Honour will be published by Robert Hale in March.

In 1810 at the end of The Wild Card, Theo's friend, Greg, has fallen in love with Amelia but she turns him down. Broken-hearted, he goes back to his military duties in Spain.

Two years later, he is cynical about women. Wounded at the battle of Salamanca, he returns to England to face a series of problems involving his family. As he tries to unravel the mystery, developments became more and more sinister.

Sarah Davenport is one person who could help him but she constantly avoids his company. Greg cannot deny she has links to the villains even if she seems to be an honourable young lady.

Sarah has her own reasons for trying to keep away from Greg. She accepts an invitation to stay with a friend in Bath where they plan to enjoy the social life, with visits to the Pump Room, the circulating library and Assembly Rooms. Sarah thinks she has escaped but then Greg also appears in Bath - and, horror of horrors, so does the unpleasant Lord Percival, who is hunting Sarah relentlessly.

Can Greg resolve the impossible tangle?