All That Lies Broken (Ashmore's Folly Book 2) (83 page)

The poem that Laura quotes to Richard during the storm is by Andrew Marvell,
To His Coy Mistress
. It is best known for the phrase “world enough and time,” which became the title of a well-known novel by Robert Penn Warren.

“Nessun Dorma,” the tenor aria that becomes a bone of contention between Laura and Diana, comes from the final act of Puccini’s
Turandot
and is one of the most famous arias in opera. While it is usually sung by tenors, several sopranos have made it their own (notably Sarah Brightman).

“Un Bel Dì,” also by Puccini, is sung in
Madama Butterfly
, Act 2. This has not only figured in opera but also in popular culture, including a drunken aria by Barney in a
Simpsons
episode (a favorite rendition).

According to the calculator at
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html
, the number of days between June 30, 2002 and June 30, 2052 really is 18,264 (inclusive). Laura has a long way to go before Richard will let her live down her rash comment in Jefferson’s bedroom at Monticello.

Confession time: To my chagrin, there was no thunderstorm in the Williamsburg area on the night of July 4, 2002. I needed a thunderstorm, so I invented one and am claiming artistic license. Mea culpa!

~•~

Even though writing is a solitary activity, no one writes a novel in a vacuum. I have been blessed with the support of my husband and family as I prepared to publish this story.

For everyone who supported and encouraged me, I thank you all! Especially:

•
   
my editor: Diane Mumpower

•
   
my beta readers: Pam Murphy, Marianna Stone, Karen Haggard

•
   
my writing mentor: Patricia Burroughs

•
   
my cover designer: Robin Ludwig of Robin Ludwig Design

•
   
my co-worker: Linda Hume, who drew the maps of Ash Marine and Ashmore Park. She took my terrible drawings, the cartological equivalent of stick figures, and actually created maps from them!

•
   
my parents and siblings, who supported me in my writing, and especially my sister, who was always only a phone call away with love and encouragement

•
   
and, of course, my husband and family, for their love and patience.

Lindsey Forrest

Author’s note:

Trilogy bibliography:

About the Author

LINDSEY FORREST BEGAN HER CAREER AS A famous novelist in fourth grade, entertaining her classmates at recess with short stories about her favorite TV shows. A few years later, she discovered Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt, and other romantic suspense/Gothic authors, and angsty heroes (who might or might not be cold-blooded murderers) replaced her first imaginary friends. In eighth grade, she wrote her first five novels, full of shameless references to
Gone with the Wind
and replete with kidnappings, ladies in peril, heroines who took no prisoners, and the original Richard Ashmore*.

And UST?** Oh, yes. Even though, at her tender age, she had no idea what that meant.

After college, she sadly realized that she needed real money to pay the rent and buy food, so she went to work as a lead writer/editor for an international information company. She now spends her days writing about the scintillating world of income tax, saving her energy at night for a world where everyone has more important things to think about.

When she isn’t daydreaming at work about her next chapter, she is reading on her e-reader (never leave home without it!), stitching her way through her never-ending stash of needlepoint canvases, and collecting shoes, handbags, dolls… you name it.

For outtakes, news about future projects, pictures of her cat Max, and anything else she can think of to throw out there on the Internet, visit Lindsey at her web site:
www.lindseyforrest.com
.

* These will never see the light of day. They are locked away in a trunk for all eternity.

** Unresolved Sexual Tension, for the uninitiated.

Available Now

LINDSEY FORREST

All Who Are Lost

Ashmore’s Folly Trilogy: Book One

Always out of reach…

From the day Laura and Richard met,

their bond was true and unshakable.

He was her perfect boy knight;

she was his adoring little slave.

He shielded her against her father’s cruelty;

she worshiped him and did his bidding.

But childhood love is sweet and uncomplicated

And Laura never had a chance.

Her Prince Charming saw only Diana,

the golden girl, the fairy tale princess …

her older sister.

He never saw her…

But princesses can betray and destroy,

and happily ever after can drown

under the weight of lies and infidelity.

Reeling from the darkness of a ruined marriage,

Richard turned to the last woman

in the world he should love –

Diana’s fiercest enemy.

And Laura, unloved, unwanted,

walked away forever,

escaping the pain

of a love she could never know….

 If all else perished…

She intends never to return.

She has built a new life, a new identity.

She is rich, famous, protected.

But when tragedy tears her world apart,

Laura returns to bury the past.

And now Richard’s eyes are open,

 now he sees her,

now he is no longer out of reach….

But the past is not gone,

and Diana still holds fast ….

Coming Soon

LINDSEY FORREST

All That Burns the Dark

Ashmore’s Folly Trilogy: Book Three

“What is left, when the darkness burns away?”

In one minute, Laura’s life changes forever,

as a vengeful man exposes Cat Courtney to the world.

Caught in the maelstrom of scandal, she struggles to survive,

threatened by the loss of fortune, reputation, career –

and, most terrible of all,

the loss of her beloved daughter.

Richard Ashmore finds himself collateral damage,

his privacy under siege, his reputation destroyed,

his hard-won peace only a memory.

In a graveyard, Laura gambles her future,

only to see happiness slip away

when a forgotten drawing exposes her darkest secret.

“Love is a battlefield”

In an explosive moment, Diana wreaks a fiery revenge.

Lucy confronts a ghost from the past, and glimpses

the hidden hand behind an ancient moment

of violence and terror.

Then Laura answers the wrong phone call,

and comes face to face with the truth

of the blackest moment of her life.

“In you, I find safe harbor forever”

Lives are smashed and reformed.

A man casts away his pride to gain the world.

A family, destroyed by lies and murderous fury,

struggles to heal after the storms of scandal and terror.

A dynasty is reborn.

A great estate rises again for the ages.

And a woman of destiny, tempered and forged

in the worst of crucibles,

emerges as steel and diamond –

triumphant at last.

Dedication

To my husband

for his love and encouragement

and for insisting I do this

in spite of the odds

All That Lies Broken.

Copyright © 2015 St. John Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S.

Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

St. John Publishing Group, Inc.

P.O. Box 250774

Plano, TX 75025-0774

www.stjohnpub.com

First St. John Publishing Group e-book edition, June 2015.

First St. John Publishing Group paperback edition, June 2015.

The characters and events, except for those of obvious historical importance, are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.