Every Mother's Son (44 page)

And as for Daniel and Beatrice, after their marriage which was said to be the Yorkshire wedding of the year as, gossip goes, the groom is of noble birth and the bride an heiress, they steal Aaron from the Hart estate and make him farm manager of their stud farm and prepare to begin their breeding programme; two years after Flavia had been brought to England she gives birth to a foal whom they name Freya. There is no conclusive evidence of the thoughts of White Socks as he frolics with his offspring.

Beatrice gives birth to a son twelve months after her marriage to Daniel, the first of four children; he is born with dark curly hair like his father and blue eyes like his mother and is blessed with a warm and happy nature, and when he plays on the rug with Grandmother Harriet’s daughter – his aunt Daisy – he knows exactly who he is: Marco Daniel Tuke-Orsini, to be known as Marco, the first son of doting parents Beatrice and Daniel Tuke-Orsini.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Orsini is a noble Italian name and I do not intend any discourtesy in my use of it. I do not know anyone of that line and have used it as I would any English name such as Smith, Brown or even Wood for my fiction. I did, however, need an aristocratic and eminent name associated with Italian history, and on reading about the family it seemed just perfect. It is true that there are many Orsini palaces scattered around Italy; the Palazzo Orsini in Rome, which resembles a mini Colosseum and was once the Theatre of Marcellus, was for sale in 2012. The price was £26 million and if it has been sold and you were unlucky enough to miss it, then it will probably be another two hundred years before it comes on the market again.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to my Transworld publishing team for their support over the last twenty-one years and for believing in each and every one of my books. The production of a book requires a dedicated team effort and I am aware that everyone within Transworld plays a vital part. To my editors over the years for their expertise and enthusiasm I say a grateful thank you, as I do to my production editor Vivien Thompson and copy-editor Nancy Webber for their innate ability to spot a misplaced comma, spelling mistake or inaccuracy, and ensure that the whole is polished and honed to as near perfection as possible.

To you all – I thank you.

SOURCES

Books for general reading:

Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes
by Robert Louis Stevenson, Chatto & Windus, London, 1925

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds and Horse Care
by Judith Draper, Selectabook Ltd, Anness Publishing Ltd, London

And general information from various Internet sites including:

150th Anniversary of Switzerland’s Grand Tour.
MySwitzerland.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Since winning the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her first novel,
The Hungry Tide
,
Val Wood
has published nineteen novels and become one of the most popular authors in the UK.

Born in the mining town of Castleford, Val came to East Yorkshire as a child and has lived in Hull and rural Holderness where many of her novels are set. She now lives in the market town of Beverley.

When she is not writing, Val is busy promoting libraries and supporting many charities.

Find out more about Val Wood’s novels by visiting her website:
www.valeriewood.co.uk

Also by Val Wood

THE HUNGRY TIDE
ANNIE
CHILDREN OF THE TIDE
THE ROMANY GIRL
EMILY
GOING HOME
ROSA’S ISLAND
THE DOORSTEP GIRLS
FAR FROM HOME
THE KITCHEN MAID
THE SONGBIRD
NOBODY’S CHILD
FALLEN ANGELS
THE LONG WALK HOME
RICH GIRL, POOR GIRL
HOMECOMING GIRLS
THE HARBOUR GIRL
THE INNKEEPER’S DAUGHTER
HIS BROTHER’S WIFE

For more information on Val Wood and her books, see her website at
www.valeriewood.co.uk

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Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at
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First published in Great Britain by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Valerie Wood 2014

Valerie Wood has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473509504
ISBN 9780593074312

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

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