Your Comment:. Read Online Download. Swanson by James L. Great book, King of Kings pdf is enough to raise the goose bumps alone. Add a review Your Rating: Your Comment:. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Penrod clenched his jaw. In the fortnight since their engagement, Penrod had discovered that being linked to such a famous young lady had its disadvantages as well as its pleasures.
She was beautiful, stunningly so. Her old nurse in the Sudan had called her al-Zahra, the Flower, and the name suited her. She also had an innocent charm, was clever without being opinionated and friendly without being forward.
Thus far, she was an ideal choice for a man such as Penrod. Such a charming and lovely wife should have been a perfect political asset, smoothing his ascent through the ranks to high command. She was one of the few survivors of the siege of Khartoum, that terrible stain on British imperial pride.
As Members of Parliament in Westminster and the leader writers of the London press demanded Gordon be saved, the ministers of state hesitated and the city was left to starve. Through a daze of hunger and fever, Amber Benbrook saw Gordon killed and her own father beheaded in the street as he tried to lead his family to safety.
Rebecca, however, refused to leave. Amber spent the weeks after her rescue writing down everything she could remember about what had happened, and discovered in herself a talent for storytelling. The resulting book, Slaves of the Mahdi, become an international sensation. Everyone had read it, from the prime minister of Britain to the lowest paid, most ink-stained and incompetent clerk in government service in Cairo. Amber had been in England for the publication, but she could not leave Africa for long.
She did not tremble or faint at any mention of Khartoum, she described shooting a crocodile or a kudu with relish, and rather than refusing to speak of the terrible fate of her elder sister, Amber said openly that she was very sorry not to know her nephew, and she hoped that her elder sister Rebecca was happy with their friends in the harem.
She had added that the baby would probably be much prettier than most, as Rebecca was beautiful and Osman Atalan very handsome. Every white mother in Cairo was deeply insulted by her remarks. The whispered commentary on her behaviour distressed and embarrassed Penrod.
Unless Amber learned to follow the unwritten codes of the club and the army, she might not be such an asset to him in his career as he had expected.
Then he considered her unfortunate association with Ryder Courtney. Penrod was the younger son of a baronet, and had a large private income from the family trust as well as his army pay. He had been educated at Harrow and discovered his talent for languages travelling through Europe before joining the army.
Courtney was a trader, a self- made man who had fought for every penny he owned, and who was openly contemptuous of all forms of soldiering. As Amber examined her boot, Penrod glanced upwards and noticed Lady Agatha Woodforde watching them from the balcony above, a slight smile on her lips. He felt a tug in his loins. She caught his eye and made a small moue of disdain. However, he dismissed the image from his mind. Penrod twisted around and stared into the face of a dark-skinned boy of perhaps ten years old.
Penrod glanced at Amber. Amber watched him go and felt her skin flush. He was so handsome; watching him made her mouth go dry and her heart flutter in a way that was both delicious and frightening. The idea of it, of doing such things with her beloved Penrod, made her both afraid and desperate to be married as soon as possible. Do you require a carriage back to your hotel? She blinked at him. My Arabic is much better than yours. Amber thought she recognised her, but knew they had never been introduced.
Do let me treat you to some tea while he is out chasing criminals. She wanted to change out of these horrible boots. Amber remembered when she had seen her before. On occasion, when Amber had walked by a group of ladies and gentlemen on the club grounds, she had felt their gaze on her, then heard a burst of laughter just after she had passed. It had made her uncomfortable, exposed. More than once she had turned back and seen Lady Agatha at the centre of the group, watching her.
Though now she seemed friendly enough. Though it is too bad of Penrod to dash off and leave you like that for the sake of a pocket watch. It was too tempting. Amber could never tire of talking about Penrod, and even Saffron, who was an indulgent sister most of the time, had started rolling her eyes when Amber talked about him and their wedding plans.
She was beautiful, but she was quite old, Amber decided. Comforted, she gave Lady Agatha her hand and allowed herself to be led away. The boy had a good start on him, but Penrod felt that he was not really putting his full effort into his escape. Penrod was almost insulted.
As soon as they were off the bridge, Penrod expected the boy to turn into the maze of twisting narrow lanes that formed the Arab quarter, but instead he continued down the main open boulevard, past the handsome frontage of the Opera House and the Esbekeeyah Gardens.
The boy danced through the crowds of Abyssinians and Turks, European tourists balanced awkwardly on patient donkeys, Albanians with their multicoloured sashes, and the proud, aloof-looking Bedouins. The boy was cursed in a dozen languages as, with a graceful bound, he leaped a low ornamental box hedge like a champion hurdler and tore across the grass, then sprang back on to the roadway, ducked under the nose of an affronted camel, and headed into the narrow shadows of the buildings opposite.
Back in Cairo, a devastated Penrod seeks oblivion in the city's opium dens. He is rescued by an old friend, who is now in the Italian army, and offered the chance to join the military efforts. Italy has designs on Abyssinia, and there are rumours of a plan to invade With storm clouds gathering, and on opposing sides of the invasion, can Penrod and Amber find their way back to one another - against all the odds?
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