The Lady and the Highwayman Audiobook (Free)

A Victorian romance that pits author against author

Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a ladies’ school and a well-respected author of “silver-fork” novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. But by evening, she writes completely different types of stories-the Penny Dreadfuls that are all the rage among the working-class males. Beneath the pseudonym Mr. Ruler, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting supernatural risks and harmful outlaws about THE GIRL and the Highwayman romancing helpless ladies. They contain all of the adventure and secret that her true to life lacks.

Fletcher Walker began lifestyle as a street urchin, but is now one of the most successful writer in the Cent Dreadful market, that’s until Mr. Ruler started taking most of his readers-and his earnings. No one knows who King is, including Fletcher’s fellow associates of the Dread Cent Society, a fraternity of authors dedicated to secretly fighting for the privileges of the less fortunate.

Determined to find the elusive Mr. Ruler, Fletcher methods Miss Black. Like a fellow writer, she actually is well-known among the high-class authors; perhaps she could possibly be persuaded to make some inquiries as to Mr. King’s whereabouts? Elizabeth agrees to help Fletcher, if only to make sure her secret identification is never found out.

For the first time, Elizabeth experiences the thrill of the cat-and-mouse adventure reminiscent of one of her own books as she tries to throw Fletcher off her fragrance. But the additional time they spend together, the more she loses her heart. It’s upper-class against working-class, writer against author where readers, reputations, and romance are all at risk.