For two years England has been in the grip of Civil War. In Banbury, Oxfordshire, the Cavaliers hold the Castle, the Roundheads want it back and the town is full of zealous Puritans.

Consequently, the gulf between Captain Justin Ambrose and Abigail Radford, the sister of a fanatically religious shopkeeper, ought to be unbridgeable.

The key to both the fate of the Castle and that of Justin and Abigail lies in defiance. But will it be enough?

A Splendid Defiance is a dramatic and enchanting story of forbidden love, set against the turmoil and anguish of the English Civil War.

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Excerpt

News from the North

Waving Cornet Anderson back into his seat, Sir Willliam said, ‘You’ve been at York with the Prince?’

‘Yes, sir.’ The boy squared his shoulders. ‘He’ll be marching south again soon. There – there’s nothing else to do. York is lost.’

Incredulity and incomprehension registered in varying degrees on the faces before him. Then Lieutenant-Colonel Greene said, ‘Lost? Irretrievably?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘How? Didn’t Rupert get there in time?’

‘Oh yes, sir. He did – and he relieved the city,’ said Cornet Anderson quickly. ‘He made one of his fast marches round to the north and we got to York while the enemy must have thought us still at Knaresborough. Only …’

‘Yes?’ prompted Sir William.

The boy stared down at his hands.

‘Well, the rebels had us heavily outnumbered but everyone was saying that they wouldn’t attack because of the York garrison.’

‘And did they? Were you taken by surprise?’

‘No – at least, not then. But the Prince said that we must engage them early next day and my Lord Goring went into York to tell Lord Newcastle to bring his men out to rendezvous with us. Only they were late and the whole morning went by and the Prince was fretting at the delay.’

‘I’ll wager he was,’ said Justin Ambrose grimly. ‘Cursing all creation, was he?’

‘I don’t know, sir. He marched us to Long Marston and deployed us for battle before the York men came up. But by that time there was a storm brewing so His Highness said we could stand down and get something to eat. It must have been nearly seven o’clock and, after all the delay and everything, it seemed he’d decided not to attack … and it didn’t look as if the enemy would because they’d been manoeuvring as if they expected us to strike south again.’ He paused and his hands suddenly tightened on each other. ‘And then all hell broke loose. They attacked and the storm came all at once. The Prince was riding up and down the lines through the rain like a man possessed. It wasn’t even his own horse.’ He stopped again and then said wearily, ‘It was horrible. The Prince’s cavalry just broke and scattered. And Lord Newcastle’s men kept refusing quarter until – until they were all lying there in the mud.’

This time the silence seemed to close around each one of them like a fist.

‘So York could not be held and the North is lost,’ said the Lieutenant-Colonel at last, voicing all their thoughts. ‘What is Prince Rupert doing?’

‘Rallying the men, sir. Lord Newcastle,’ added the boy on a perceptible note of contempt, ‘is taking ship for France.’

‘And what of Rupert himself?’ asked Justin. ‘It’s his first real defeat. How has he taken it?’

‘It’s hard to say,’ came the slow response. ‘But they killed his dog, you know … and that must have been near as bad as everything else.’

Winner of four gold medals for historical romance and sixteen Book Readers’ Appreciation Medallions, Stella Riley lives in the beautiful medieval town of Sandwich in Kent.

She is fascinated by the English Civil Wars and has written six books set in that period. These, like the 7 book Rockliffe series, the Brandon Brothers trilogy and, most recently The Shadow Earl, are all available in audio, performed by Alex Wyndham.

Stella enjoys travel, reading, theatre, Baroque music and playing the harpsichord. She also has a fondness for men with long hair - hence her 17th and 18th century heroes.

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