The Secret Pearl

Author: Mary Balogh
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Great storyline.  Great characters, both the good and the bad.  Mary Balogh tugs at my emotions.  I love this writer and the characters she creates.

The Duke of Ridgeway has made Sybil his Duchess, but she is in love with his brother, Thomas, who has gone away when he found out she was with child.  She thinks the Duke sent him away.  She hates the Duke for this, because she does not know that Thomas left her.  The Duke marries her, so she is not ruined.  She never agrees to consummate the marriage.  The Duke repulses her because his face and body are so scarred from the Battle Waterloo, and because she is faithful to Thomas.  The Duke remains faithful to his marriage vows.  But one night he sees in the shadow in Drury Lane a lone figure of a prostitute, Flur.  He feels so alone that nature takes its course. He feels so bad, he makes Flur governess to his daughter.  He falls in love with Flur, finds she is accused of murder, and frees her of blame.  Sybil has consumption, Thomas dies in a fight, Sybil commits suicide when she hears of Thomas's death, and the Duke marries Flur.