Heirs of Ravenscar
The next installment in the dramatic new Ravenscar series from the international bestselling author of Woman of Substance.As Edward Deravenel stands alone on the rocky Ravenscar beach he counts his blessings. The war to end all wars is over; he and his brothers have survived. Now he can build Deravenels, the family business empire, into all he has dreamed of.Yet there is a thorn in his side – his reckless younger brother, George. George's gambling and unpaid debts are beginning to cause rumours and unease.And Edward realises that his brother is capable of not just recklessness but blackmail and betrayal. The fortunes of the house of Deravenal suffer a terrible reversal as one disaster follows another, and tragedy strikes.RavenscarA House. A Legacy. A Dynasty.It is Edward's daughter Bess, his golden girl, who carries the family name forward, making an alliance that will secure the empire and the inheritance, and start a new dynasty.And it is Bess's son Harry who stands in his grandfather's shoes at a similar age and vows to rebuild Deravenels to greatness – as long as he can have the son and heir he longs for. Whatever it takes…
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BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD
Heirs of Ravenscar
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.
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
This paperback edition 2008
First published in Great Britain by
HarperCollinsPublishers 2007
Copyright © Barbara Taylor Bradford 2008
Barbara Taylor Bradford asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Ebook edition © September 2008 ISBN:9780007279524
Version: 2017-10-25
For Bob: for his loving support and generosity,and for always being in my corner.
Contents
Copyright
EPILOGUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
BOOKS BY BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD
Edward was of a gentle nature and cheerful aspect: nevertheless should he assume an angry countenance he could appear very terrible to beholders. He was easy of access to his friends and to others, even the least notable.
Dominic Mancini
When the Plantagenets started to kill each other the downfall of the dynasty began.
London citizen: 15th century
Ah, me, I see the ruin of my House!
The tiger now hath seiz’d the gentle hind;
Insulting tyranny brings to jet
Upon the innocent and aweless throne:-
Welcome destruction, blood and massacre!
I see, as in a map, the end of all.
William Shakespeare:
Richard III,
Act II, Scene IV
Yorkshire 1918
It was a compulsion, the way he came down to this stretch of beach whenever he returned to Ravenscar.
A compulsion indeed, but also an overwhelming need to recapture, in his mind’s eye, their faces … their faces not yet cold and waxen in death, but still warm. Neville, his mentor, his partner in so many schemes and adventures; Johnny, the beloved companion of his youth. He had loved them well and true, these Watkins brothers, these cousins of his who had been his allies.
At least until a mixture of hurt feelings, overweening ambition, flaring emotions and dangerous elements had intervened and prised them apart. They had become sworn enemies, much to Edward’s chagrin, a pain which had never ceased to trouble him. And now Johnny and Neville were dead.
Edward raised his head, looked up at the clear blue sky, blameless, without cloud, a sky that appeared so summer-like and benign on this icy Saturday morning in December. Unexpectedly, his eyes felt moist; he blinked back sudden, incipient tears, shook his head in bemusement, still disbelieving their tragic end, here on this bit of shingled beach at the edge of the harsh North Sea.
