Oxford, 1900. When her parents die in a tragic accident, Heppie Wildman, homeless and penniless, must find her way alone in the world. A post as governess at Ingelton Hall offers the chance to rebuild her life, and she quickly forms a bond with her eight-year-old charge and a close friendship with the local parson, Meritt Nightingale. Heppie is also irresistibly drawn to the handsome and elusive Thomas Egdon, the son of her employer. But her new life at Ingleton Hall is not as idyllic as it first seems. Who is the mysterious woman who appeared in her bedroom in the middle of the night? What is Thomas Egdon concealing from her? How can she escape the lecherous advances of her employer, Sir Richard? In attempting to protect herself and her future, Heppie unleashes a chain of events with disastrous consequences for her own life and the lives of those she holds most dear. The Green Ribbons is set in an English village on the cusp of a new century. From the award-winning author of The Pearl of Penang, this is a classic tale of passion, vengeance and redemption.

The Green Ribbons













23







What likeness may define, and stray not

From truth’s exactest way,

A baby’s beauty? Love can say not

What likeness may.

(from Babyhood, Algernon Charles Swinburne)




A
s soon as the midwife placed her baby boy in her arms, Heppie forgot a...

Untitled

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27 If you enjoyed The Green Ribbons

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Acknowledgments