A Code of Joy: The Code Breakers Series, #10

By Jacki Delecki

Rejected by society, she finds what she's been looking for. And more…

 

Miss Joie James is a dangerous combination of inquisitive and innocence. After trusting one man she shouldn't have, she's caught up in a scandal. Being sent to stay with her elderly aunt seems a horrible way to spend Christmas, bored senseless at the country estate, when all she really craves is adventure. Alas, fate intervenes when the weather forces her carriage to layover at an inn in a small village. There, Joie gets much more than she bargained for when she's incorrectly identified as a French spy.

 

Driven to prove himself, forced to choose between his heart and his head.

 

Lieutenant Reginald Talley cannot make a mess of his first real mission for the Crown. Tasked with convincing a beautiful female spy to help him gain Napoleon's trust, he eagerly awaits the clandestine meeting in a smuggling town inn–too eagerly he realizes when he stupidly approaches the wrong woman. Now the mistaken young lady is a thorn in his side, following and watching his every move, as if this is some kind of holiday game instead of life or death. He must convince her to go away. Never mind that she makes his blood run hot or that she consumes more of his thoughts than she should. By being around him, she's putting them all in danger.

 

But when Joie overhears the French woman plans to kidnap Reggie, Joie suddenly becomes a target and Reggie must admit his feelings toward her have changed. She's no longer an unwanted pest, but a woman he can't imagine living without. When Joie is kidnapped, Reggie will risk everything—including his life—to save the woman he loves. But will he be too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doe Bay Publishing LLC
• Release date: Dec 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781735567914

Book preview

A Code of Love

The Code Breakers Series, Book 10

by

Jacki Delecki

About the Book

Rejected by society, she finds what she’s been looking for. And more…

Miss Joie James is a dangerous combination of inquisitive and innocence. After trusting one man she shouldn’t have, she’s caught up in a scandal. Being sent to stay with her elderly aunt seems a horrible way to spend Christmas, bored senseless at the country estate, when all she really craves is adventure. Alas, fate intervenes when the weather forces her carriage to layover at an inn in a small village. There, Joie gets much more than she bargained for when she’s incorrectly identified as a French spy.

Driven to prove himself, forced to choose between his heart and his head.

Lieutenant Reginald Talley cannot make a mess of his first real mission for the Crown. Tasked with convincing a beautiful female spy to help him gain Napoleon’s trust, he eagerly awaits the clandestine meeting in a smuggling town inn–too eagerly he realizes when he stupidly approaches the wrong woman. Now the mistaken young lady is a thorn in his side, following and watching his every move, as if this is some kind of holiday game instead of life or death. He must convince her to go away. Never mind that she makes his blood run hot or that she consumes more of his thoughts than she should. By being around him, she’s putting them all in danger.

But when Joie overhears the French woman plans to kidnap Reggie, Joie suddenly becomes a target and Reggie must admit his feelings toward her have changed. She’s no longer an unwanted pest, but a woman he can’t imagine living without. When Joie is kidnapped, Reggie will risk everything—including his life—to save the woman he loves. But will he be too late?

Copyright

A Code of Joy

Copyright © 2020 by Jacki Delecki

Excerpt from A Code of Wonder © 2020 by Jacki Delecki

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, locales, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-7355679-1-4

Published by Doe Bay Publishing, Seattle, Washington

Cover Art by The Killion Group, Inc.

Digital Formatting by My Author Concierge

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my beloved readers.

I hope this holiday story will bring you laughter and joy. And you’ll fall a little in love with Joie and Reggie as I did writing their adventure.

Best wishes for a Happy and Safe Holiday Season!

XOXO

Chapter One

Lieutenant Reginald Talley paced outside of Lord Cordelier Rathbourne’s office. Sweat dripped down his back as his heart pounded and his boot heels hammered a rapid staccato beat on the oak floor. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. He’d never been summoned like this before.

Brompton had delivered the cryptic message upon Reggie’s early morning arrival. Over the two years that Reggie had been in charge of Lady Henrietta Rathbourne’s safety, the butler had never warmed toward Reggie, as if he, rather than the bloody French, were the cause of the threats against Lady Henrietta.

Reggie’s highly trained senses alerted to the quiet shuffle coming from behind. He immediately recognized her ladyship’s footsteps. He turned to greet her. Unlike his most recent paramour, Lady Henrietta had no interest in fashion—evidenced by her hair that was in a simple knot at her neck and her morning dress that was unadorned. Her passions were her family and linguistics.

Reggie, I had hoped to speak with you before your meeting. Her voice matched her sparkling smile, giving no indication of an impending disaster.

He bowed his head to England’s best-kept secret weapon. Lady Henrietta was the country’s most gifted code-breaker and married to England’s Intelligence Division head.

My lady, has there been a problem that I’ve been unaware of?

He was the military liaison to the Intelligence Division and in charge of the men who guarded the entire Rathbourne household. But the highest priority was his responsibility for the lady. Lord Rathbourne had entrusted no one but Reggie with his wife’s safety after her harrowing pursuit by French spies through Hyde Park.

It is all my doing. Lady Henrietta shook her head.

Reggie braced himself—legs apart, shoulders pulled back, his chin tucked in a military posture. Her ladyship had been embroiled in some interesting and dangerous situations in the past—like at Hyde Park—but since Napoleon’s threats had heightened, she had been too involved with the code-breaking to be involved in direct espionage.

Nothing could be your fault, my lady. His brain raced through the events of the past weeks, searching for any situations in which she might have placed herself in harm’s way without his knowledge.

Reggie, I want you to know that you’ll be sorely missed by everyone.

Her soft-spoken words registered like a fist to the gut. Was he being dismissed to return to his regiment? For what reason? He was part of the daily rhythm of Rathbourne house. He knew what it meant when her ladyship retired in the afternoon with her husband or when he was released in the early evening. The nights she was awakened when new missives arrived, and how Lord Rathbourne would release Reggie and sleep in the chair as her ladyship worked. Lord Rathbourne was devoted to his wife.

It’s about time that Cord finally listened to me.

Reggie stared at the woman whom he respected and would give up his life to protect. She spent long hours deciphering messages and devising codes for the English to outwit the French. She was a warrior waging her war from the library.

My lady, I’m sorry to hear that I’ve failed you. His voice almost cracked at this unexpected turn. She had always treated him kindly despite her frustration when Reggie doggedly followed her everywhere on her husband’s orders. Lord Rathbourne would not be pleased by his wife’s unhappiness, and when his lordship wasn’t pleased, the skies thundered, and all hell broke loose.

Reggie stared at the clear gaze of the lady whom he had gotten to know so well as he searched for a way to get clarification. Then the office door opened. Mr. Hewitt, Lord Rathbourne’s man of business—one of the many men who helped in managing Lord Rathbourne’s extensive estates—stood at the threshold. Mr. Hewitt was a humorless man who’d been inherited from the old earl, also a grim man. Reggie had never seen the man smile.

My lady, I didn’t expect . . . The balding, bespectacled man stumbled over his words as a flush spread from his jowls, then engulfed his sagging cheeks.

Good morning, Hewitt.

The man kept his eyes averted and bowed his head. My lady, I wasn’t aware . . . Lord Rathbourne directed me to summon Lieutenant Talley. Shall I tell his lordship that you wish an audience?

Thank you, Hewitt. But I’m on my way to the library. I know that Lord Rathbourne has important business with the lieutenant.

Lady Henrietta smiled at the devoted servant, gently dismissing him. Hewitt scurried away, his head bowed.

She then patted Reggie’s arm before proceeding down the hallway, giving no hint of the nature of the crisis.

He watched the lady disappear into the library before he squared his shoulders, preparing to face Lord Rathbourne. He made his face blank, as he had learned well from his encounters with his father. His father, whom he never referred to as anything but the general, couldn’t abide sniveling ninnies.

Talley, come in.

Lord Rathbourne barely looked up as he arranged a stack of paper among the many piles already covering his massive mahogany desk. Viscount Ashworth, Lord Rathbourne’s closest friend and brother-in-law, lounged in a chair. The men were a study of opposites. Dark and forbidding with an angular countenance, Lord Rathbourne demanded respect and obedience.

Fair-haired to Rathbourne’s darkness, Ashworth was ready with a sardonic comment or a sarcastic jibe. The man never seemed to take anything seriously. With his rumpled clothes and disheveled hair, the viscount,