THE STORY SO FAR
England, 1770s. Travelling to Bath with her Uncle George to be launched into society, 17-year-old Sophia Denbigh is ambushed by a notorious highwayman known as The Shadow. George parts with his money, but when Sophia refuses to hand over her few items of jewellery, The Shadow enigmatically demands payment in kind – which turns out to be a dance with her on the roadside. The encounter leaves Sophia in turmoil. In the excitement of the season, she tries to forget the mysterious highwayman, but a potential suitor, Sir Percy Fairbrother, fails to ignite the same feelings in her. Her cousin Eliza, though, is sure Percy is about to propose. At a masked ball, Sophia finds herself dancing opposite a man who seems curiously familiar. When she looks into his eyes, she knows them to be the same distinctive ‘tiger’s eyes’ of The Shadow himself. Flustered, Sophia stumbles and, as the man catches her, she faints.
She could hear voices far away. One belonged to a man… ‘How is she?’
From a woman, just a sigh and a tut.
The man’s voice again… ‘Perhaps a little more sal volatile.’
‘No, let’s leave her be for now,’ the woman replied.
Feeling as though she was swimming through reeds in a river, Sophia strained to come to, her eyelids fluttering as she tried to open them.
Eyes… that was it… eyes! It had been him, she was sure of it –
