Royal Harlot<br > the sword. Bernhard drew in his breath at this<br >Klaus gave a gasp as the blade pierced his flesh，<br >d his teeth to fight on， but Bernhard cried，<br >ld stepped in.<br >aas been spilt，" he declared sternly to Gorstein.<br > Gorstein shrieked. "To the death."<br >death，" Klaus repeated， his face pale and livid.<br >:k， Bernhard. It s too late."<br >:hed onto the attack but his foe glided away like<br >~shing viciously. Gorstein s eyes were glittering<br >~leasure as the final moment approached， a mo-<br >hich he was being well paid. A cunning flick of<br >ad Klaus s blade went spinning from his hand，<br >I defenseless against Gorstein s murderous at-<br >amy s sword was raised...<br >~ot rang out from the direction of some nearby<br > next second， Gorstein had fallen to the ground，<br >1son stain spreading over his white shirtfront. He<br >kot clean through the heart.<br > Chapter One<br >That summer of 1865， society was dominated by the bril-<br >liant young Prince and Princess of Wales， who seemed set<br >on turning everything into pleasure， and among the many<br >shining lights of their crowd， none dazzled more brilliantly<br >than Leonie， Dowager Duchess of Coniston. She was ab-<br >su~ly young for a dowager， being only twenty-seven， and<br >in 0ae four years of her widowhood she d set international<br >soe~y alight with her beauty， charm and tireless energy.<br > Despite not having gone to bed until the small hours，<br >she d been up early this morning， advancing to meet the<br >dawn in a tight-fitting riding habit that showed off every<br >curve of her slim body， and enjoying a vigorous ride in Hyde<br >Park. She returned to Coniston House， the palatial Lon-<br >don mansion of the Duke of Coniston， to find the rest of the<br >family at breakfast. Gwendolyn， the present duchess， turned<br >acid eyes on her. It was the bane of Gwendolyn s life that her<br >fatber-in-law had taken as his second wife a beautiful young<br >woman less than a third his age， and that in consequence she<br >had a mother-in-law twenty years younger than herself. It<br >was worse still that Leonie periodically inflicted herself on<br >her husband s long-suffering family， reducing the house to<br >turmoil with her dashing ways.<br ><br >