Title: By Winter's
Light
Author: Stephanie
Laurens
Date of Publication: October 28,
2014
About By Winter's
Light:
#1 New York Times
bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns to romantic Scotland to usher in a
new generation of Cynsters in an enchanting tale of mistletoe, magic, and
love.
It’s December 1837, and the young adults of the Cynster clan
have succeeded in having the family Christmas celebration held at snow-bound
Casphairn Manor, Richard and Catriona Cynster’s home. Led by Sebastian,
Marquess of Earith, and by Lucilla, future Lady of the Vale, and her twin
brother, Marcus, the upcoming generation has their own plans for the holiday
season.
Yet where Cynsters gather, love is never far behind—the festive
occasion brings together Daniel Crosbie, tutor to Lucifer Cynster’s sons, and
Claire Meadows, widow and governess to Gabriel Cynster’s daughter. Daniel and
Claire have met before and the embers of an unexpected passion smolder between
them, but once bitten, twice shy, Claire believes a second marriage is not in
her stars. Daniel, however, is determined to press his suit. He’s seen the love
the Cynsters share, and Claire is the lady with whom he dreams of sharing his
life. Assisted by a bevy of Cynsters—innate matchmakers every one—Daniel
strives to persuade Claire that trusting him with her hand and her heart is her
right path to happiness.
Meanwhile, out riding on Christmas Eve, the young adults of
the Cynster clan respond to a plea for help. Summoned to a humble dwelling in
ruggedly forested mountains, Lucilla is called on to help with the difficult
birth of a child, while the others rise to the challenge of helping her. With a
violent storm closing in and severely limited options, the next generation of
Cynsters face their first collective test—can they save this mother and child?
And themselves, too?
Back at the manor, Claire is increasingly drawn to Daniel
and despite her misgivings, against the backdrop of the ongoing festivities
their relationship deepens. Yet she remains torn—until catastrophe strikes, and
by winter’s light, she learns that love—true love—is worth any risk, any price.
A tale brimming with all the magical delights of a Scottish
festive season.
Amazon // Barnes & Noble // iBooks
Q&A with Stephanie:
You state that BY WINTER’S LIGHT is
an essential volume for the Cynster novels going forward. Why is
that?
One of the critical features of a long-running series is
readers’ feelings of returning to places and people they know - of seeing heros
and heroines they have come to know as individuals go through the challenge of
finding love and marrying the right man or woman for them. Knowing at least one
of these characters beforehand - understanding what has made them as they are,
what their strengths are, and even more importantly what weaknesses they hide -
allows greater interest, empathy, and absorption for the reader.
In the case of the Cynster Next Generation, the children of
the Bar Cynster couples, readers know who they are, but have seen very little
of them. And as we all know, actions speak much louder than words about the
caliber of people, of who they really are beneath the outer glamor. In BY
WINTER’S LIGHT, readers see Lucilla, Marcus, Sebastian, Michael, Prudence, and
Christopher in action, responding to external pressures and threats, and also
to each other, and separately readers also learn more about Louisa and her
emerging character.
Readers have more recently seen Lucilla and Marcus act in
VISCOUNT BRECKENRIDGE TO THE RESCUE, but now they are a decade older, and we -
both the readers and me as author - need to see more of the adults they are
shaping up to be, which are insights BY WINTER’S LIGHT affords us.
Unsurprisingly, the first pair of Cynster Next Generation romances are those of
Lucilla and Marcus, and as they are twins, the stories are tightly linked.
Subsequently, working off the base of their characters
revealed in this book, we’ll follow Sebastian, Michael, and Louisa through
their romances, and later learn about Prudence and Christopher’s romances, too.
So there’s lots more Cynster novels
in the pipeline?
Indeed! Lucilla’s book, THE TEMPTING OF THOMAS CARRICK, is
already written, and will be released at the end of February, 2015. It will be
followed by Marcus’s story, A MATCH FOR MARCUS CYNSTER, in late May, 2015.
Further Cynster novels are scheduled for release in 2017.
There’s an obvious tradition that
isn’t included - that of a Christmas tree. Why is that
missing?
Christmas trees - the erecting and decorating of them -
while echoing the decorating of a house with fir and holly, was a German
custom. In the early 1800s, the only major house in England that sported a
Christmas Tree was the Duchess of Rutland’s household at Belvoir Castle,
because the Duchess was German. Only much later, after the marriage of Victoria
to Albert, who introduced the custom of Christmas trees to the royal household,
did the custom of Christmas trees become more widely adopted in England.
Victoria married Albert in 1840, so in 1837 in Scotland, the
custom of a Christmas had not yet arrived.
If there was one thing you could say
to readers when they pick up BY WINTER’S LIGHT, what would it
be?
Put your feet up, kick back and relax, and enjoy the
holidays Cynsters-style!
Excerpt:
CHAPTER 1
December 23, 1837
Casphairn Manor, the Vale of Casphairn,
Scotland
Daniel Crosbie felt as if all his Christmases had come at
once. Letting his gaze travel the Great Hall of Casphairn Manor, filled to
overflowing with six Cynster families and various associated household members,
he allowed himself a moment to savor both his unexpected good fortune and his
consequent hope.
About him, the combined households were enjoying the hearty
dinner provided to welcome them to the celebration planned for the next ten
days—as Daniel understood it, a combination of Christmas, the more ancient
Yuletide, and Hogmanay. Seated about the long refectory-like tables on benches
rather than chairs, with eyes alight and smiles on their faces, the assembled
throng was in ebullient mood. Conversation and laughter abounded; delight and
expectation shone in most faces, illuminated by the warm glow of the
candlelight cast from massive circular chandeliers depending from thick chains
from the high-domed ceiling. The central room about which the manor was built,
the Great Hall lived up to its name; the space within its thick walls of pale
gray stone was large enough to accommodate the Cynster contingent, all told
about sixty strong, as well as the families of the various retainers who worked
in and around the manor, which functioned like a small village.
With no family of his own still alive, Daniel had spent his
last ten Christmases with the Cynster family for whom he acted as tutor—the
family of Mr. Alasdair Cynster and his wife, Phyllida—but this was the first
time in that decade that the Cynsters had come north for Christmas. The six
Cynster families present—the six families closest to the dukedom of St. Ives,
those of Devil, Duke of St. Ives, his brother Richard, and his cousins Vane,
Harry, Rupert, and Alasdair—invariably came together at Christmastime. They
were often joined by other connected families not present on this occasion; the
long journey to the Vale, in the western Lowlands of Scotland, to the home of
Richard Cynster and his wife Catriona in a season that had turned icy and cold
with snow on the ground much earlier than expected had discouraged all but the
most determined.
Out of long-established habit, Daniel glanced at his
charges—soon to be erstwhile charges—seated at the next table with their
cousins and second cousins. Aidan, now sixteen years old, and Evan, fifteen,
had passed out of Daniel’s immediate care when they’d gone up to Eton, yet
Daniel still kept an eye on the pair when they were home—an action their
parents appreciated and which the boys, at ease with him after all the years,
bore with good grace. At that moment, both were talking animatedly with their
male cousins in a fashion that instantly, at least in Daniel’s mind, raised the
question of what the group was planning. He made a mental note to inquire
later. Jason, the youngest son of the family and the last of Daniel’s true
charges, was similarly occupied with the group of Cynster offspring nearer his
age. Now eleven, later in the coming year, Jason, too, would start his formal
schooling—a circumstance which had, for Daniel, raised the uncomfortable
question of what he would do then.
Once Jason left for Eton and there were no more boys in
Alasdair Cynster’s household in Colyton, in Devon, for Daniel to tutor, what
would he do for a living?
The question had plagued him for several months, not least
because if he was ever to have a chance at the sort of life he now knew he
wanted, and, if at all possible, was determined to claim, he needed to have
secure employment—a place, a position, with a steady salary or stipend.
He’d been wracking his brains, trying to think of his
options, of what might be possible, when Mr. Cynster—Alasdair—had called him
into the library and laid before him a proposal that, in a nutshell, was the
answer to all his prayers.
On several occasions over the years, Daniel had assisted
Alasdair with his interests in ancient and antique jewelry, with documenting
finds and establishing provenances, and also with cataloguing and adding to the
collection of rare books Alasdair had inherited from the previous owner of the
manor. Alasdair, supported by Phyllida, had suggested that, once Jason had
departed with his brothers for Eton, if Daniel was happy to remain in Colyton
as a member of their household, they would be delighted to engage him as
Alasdair’s personal secretary, an amanuensis to assist with Alasdair’s
ever-expanding interests.
The suggested stipend was generous, the conditions all
Daniel could have hoped for. Not only would the new position suit him, it would
solve all his difficulties.
Most importantly, it cleared the way for him to offer for
Claire Meadows’s hand.
He glanced along the board to his right. Clad in a soft
woolen gown in a muted shade of blue, Claire—Mrs. Meadows—was sitting on the
opposite side of the table, two places down. She was the governess in Rupert
Cynster’s household; as Rupert and Alasdair were brothers, Claire and Daniel
were often thrown together when the families gathered. It was customary in such
circumstances that the attending tutors and governesses banded together,
sharing responsibilities and each other’s company, as they were at present. The
manor’s governess, Miss Melinda Spotswood, a comfortable matronly sort with a
backbone of forged iron, was chatting to Claire. On Melinda’s other side,
opposite Daniel, sat Oswald Raven, tutor at the manor; a few years older than
Daniel, Raven projected a debonair façade, but he was hardworking and devoted
to his charges. Raven was chatting to Mr. Samuel Morris, who was seated
alongside Daniel and hailed from Vane Cynster’s household in Kent; the oldest
of the group, Morris was slightly rotund and had an unfailingly genial air, yet
he was a sound scholar and very capable of exerting a firm hand on his charges’
reins.
All five had met and shared duties on several occasions
before; the rapport between them was comfortable and relaxed. Over the coming
days, they would, between them, keep an eye on the combined flock of Cynster
children—the younger ones, at least. The oldest group, the seventeen-year-olds
led by eighteen-year-old Sebastian Cynster, Marquess of Earith and future head
of the house, could be relied on to take care of themselves, along with the
large group of sixteen- and fifteen-year-old males. But there were six boys
thirteen years and under, and seven girls ranging from eight to fourteen years
old, and over them the tutors and governesses would need to exert control
sufficient to ensure they remained suitably occupied.
There was no telling what the engaging devils would get up
to if left unsupervised.
Being governess or tutor to Cynster children was never dull
or boring.
Daniel had managed to keep his gaze from Claire for all of
ten minutes. Despite the color and vibrancy, the noise and distraction—despite
the many handsome and outright stunningly beautiful faces around about—hers was
the shining star in his firmament; regardless of where they were, regardless of
competing sights and sounds, she effortlessly drew his gaze and transfixed his
attention.
She’d done so from the moment he’d first seen her at one of
the family’s Summer Celebrations in Cambridgeshire several years ago. They’d
subsequently met on and off at various family functions, at weddings in London,
at major family birthdays, and at seasonal celebrations like the current one.
With each exposure, his attraction to Claire, his focus on
her, had only grown more definite, more acute, until the obvious conclusion had
stared him in the face, impossible to resist, much less deny.
Utterly impossible to ignore.
“If the weather holds,” Raven said, commanding Daniel’s
attention with his gaze, “and the older crew go riding as they’re planning,
then we’ll need to invent some suitable pastimes to keep our charges amused.”
Seated with his back to the table at which the Cynster
children were gathered, Raven had turned and asked what the animated talk had
been about. Riding out to assess the position and state of the deer herds had
been the answer.
Daniel nodded. “If at all possible, let’s get those left to
our care out of doors.”
“Indeed,” Melinda said, turning from Claire to join the
conversation. “We need to take advantage of any clear days. If it is fine
enough tomorrow, I was saying to Claire that the fourteen-year-olds—the
girls—might like to gather greenery to decorate the hall.” Melinda gestured to
the stone walls hosting various fireplaces and archways, all presently devoid
of any seasonal touches. “It’s customary to decorate them on the twenty-fourth,
which is tomorrow.”
“I’d heard,” Morris said, “that there’s some tradition about
the Yule log that’s followed hereabouts.” He looked to Raven for confirmation.
Raven, his hair as dark as his name would suggest, nodded.
“Yes, that’s an inspired idea. Not only is it necessary to collect the
right-sized logs, but the logs have to be carved. That should keep the boys
amused for hours. I’ll speak to the staff about organizing whatever’s needed.”
Daniel nodded again, and his gaze drifted once more to
Claire; she’d been following the conversation, her calm expression indicating
her agreement with the suggestions. With her glossy mid-brown hair burnished by
the candlelight, with her delicate features and milky-white skin, her lips of
pale rose, lush and full, and her large hazel eyes set under finely arched
brown brows, she was, to his eyes, the epitome of womanhood.
That she was a widow—had been widowed at a young age—was
neither here nor there, yet the experience had, it seemed, imbued her with a
certain gravitas, leaving her more reserved, more cautious, and with a more
sober and serious demeanor than might be expected of a well-bred lady of
twenty-seven summers.
Her station—gentry-born but fallen on hard times—was similar
to, or perhaps a touch higher than, Daniel’s; he didn’t really know. Nor did he
truly care. They were both as they were here and now, and what happened next …
that was up to them.
He’d come to Scotland, to the Vale, determined to put his
luck to the test—to seize the opportunity to speak with Claire and plead his
case, to learn if she shared his hopes and if she could come to share his
dreams.
A gust of laughter and conversation drew his gaze to the
high table.
The six Cynster couples were seated about the table on the
raised dais along one side of the room, a traditional positioning most likely
dating from medieval times. In addition to those twelve—middle-aged, perhaps,
yet still vibrantly handsome, articulate, active, and engaged—there were three
of the older generation at one end of the board. Helena, Dowager Duchess of St.
Ives, mother of Devil and Richard and elder matriarch of the clan, was seated
at the end of the table closest to the hearth, and had chosen to summon
Algaria, Catriona’s aging mentor, and McArdle, the ancient butler of the manor,
now retired, to join her there. The three were much of an age and, judging by
their glances and gestures, were busy sharing pithy observations on all others
in the hall. Having met the dowager and been the object of her scrutiny on
several occasions, Daniel didn’t like to think of how much she, let alone
black-eyed Algaria, was seeing.
A comment in a deep voice, followed by laughter, drew
Daniel’s gaze back to the twelve Cynsters of the generation that currently
ruled. Their children might have been growing apace, might already have been
showing signs of the forceful, powerful individuals they had the potential to
become, yet the twelve seated about the high table still dominated their world.
Daniel had observed them—those six couples in particular—for
the past ten years. All the males had been born to wealth, but what they’d made
of it—the lives each had successfully wrought—hadn’t been based solely on
inherited advantage. Each of the six possessed a certain strength—a nuanced
blend of power, ability, and insight—that Daniel appreciated, admired, and
aspired to. It had taken him some time to realize from where that particular
strength derived—namely, from the ladies. From their marriages. From the
connection—the link that was so deep, so strong, so anchoring—that each of the
six males shared with his wife.
Once he’d seen and understood, Daniel had wanted the same
for himself.
His gaze shifted again to Claire. Once he’d met her, he’d
known whom he wanted to share just such a link with.
Now he stood on the cusp of reaching for it—of chancing his
hand and hoping he could persuade her to form such a connection with him.
Whatever gaining her assent required, he would do.
Now Fate in the form of Alasdair Cynster had cleared his
path, it was time to screw his courage to the sticking point and act.
Hope, anticipation, and trepidation churned in his gut.
But he was there and so was she, and he was determined to
move forward. He knew how he felt about her, and he thought she felt similarly
toward him. His first step, plainly, was to determine whether he was correct in
believing that—and whether with encouragement, “like” could grow into something
more.
About Stephanie Laurens:
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens began
writing romances as an escape from the dry world of professional science. Her
hobby quickly became a career when her first novel was accepted for
publication, and with entirely becoming alacrity, she gave up writing about
facts in favor of writing fiction.
Laurens's novels are set in the time period of the British
Regency, and her settings range from Scotland to India. Laurens has published
fifty works of historical romance, including 29 New York Times bestsellers. All
her works are continuously available in print and digital formats in English
worldwide, and have been translated into many other languages. An international
bestseller, among other accolades Laurens has received the Romance Writers of
America prestigious RITA Award for Best Romance Novella 2008, for The Fall of
Rogue Gerrard.
Her continuing novels featuring the Cynster family are
widely regarded as classics of the genre. Other series include the Bastion Club
Novels and the Black Cobra Quartet. For information on upcoming releases and
updates on novels yet to come, visit Stephanie's website.
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