rugged · fiercely independent · compassionate · historical fiction · cornish setting · noble · war veteran · protective · rebellious · poldark
A rare, almost feverish brilliance illuminated the Alverton estate. Carriages drew up on the gravel drive, their arrival muffled by the evening mist clinging to the Cornish coast. Inside, the grand ballroom was a vision of reflected gold—candlelight caught in crystal, gleaming off polished floors, glinting from the stems of wine glasses. Yet beneath the opulence, a taut wire of anticipation thrummed. Every guest, every murmured conversation, orbited around an absence: Juliette. Whispers trailed after her—speculations about Parisian fashions, the size of her retinue. Young men near the doors stiffened hopefully at every entrance, their faces falling with each newcomer who was not her. Francis Poldark, watching the scene unfold, turned to me with a knowing glint in his eye. 'I do believ…