The Mystery of the Adopted Son: A novel (Her Beauty and Evilness Book 1) by Elizabeth Noble

London 1803 In the cold weather of London, Alice, a young woman who ran from her past, coincidentally meets her lover, Mackenzie, an old friend from years ago and a dutiful soldier. She tells him how she got married in secret on the advice of the marchioness, Lady Fitz-Arthur, to a gentleman superior to her and who died prior to the birth of his son. However, according to Alice, her husband’s family would not countenance their union on account of their superiority. Alice stating that there is a secret attached to her poor boy, wanted her whereabouts to be unknown to the marchioness and to her previous connexions. The marchioness was described by people as always being so proud and overbearing, so haughty towards her inferiors, and so bold and forward towards her equals, that not a servant in the house liked her except Alice. She certainly had the beauty of an angel, but people used to say that she had a devil’s heart. Eventually, Mackenzie asks Alice to be his wife so he can be her protector and vows to be a father to her son, Edward, in the strictest sense of the word. Alice, appearing to love her daughters more than her son, felt the necessity of separating him from so formidable a rival to them. As a result, Edward was then sent to live with his grandmother, Margret, in a village, far away from his real parents and oblivious to his origin.