The Secret Woman (39 page)

The Pride of the Peacock

by Victoria Holt

New York Times
bestselling author

Jessica Clavering's family only talks about the “better days” when they had their ancestral home, before their financial ruin. Jessica only realizes how little she knows her “family” when she meets an elderly gentleman who reportedly stole her family's estate. They become friends, and he puts her in his will, with one condition: she must marry his son, Joss.

The newlyweds inherit an opal mine in Australia. Once they arrive on the faraway continent, Jessica starts to uncover her family's dark past and her connection to The Green Flash, an exquisite and spellbinding opal. The stone arouses a dangerous desire in anyone who sees it—even her husband.

Praise for Victoria Holt:

“Few things are so steady as the writings of Victoria Holt, one of the reigning queens of mainstream gothic romance.”—United Press International

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