title: A Necessary Deception: A Novel (The Daughters of Bainbridge House) (Volume 1)
author:  Laurie Alice Eakes 
description: <b>"Laurie Alice Eakes is one of the best storytellers the world has today."--Delle Jacobs, award-winning author of </b><b><i>His Majesty, the Prince of Toads<br /></i></b><br />When young widow Lydia Gale helps a French prisoner obtain parole, she never dreams she will see him again. But just as the London Season gets under way, the man presents himself in her parlor. While she should be focused on getting her headstrong younger sister prepared for her entre into Society, Lady Gale finds herself preoccupied with the mysterious Frenchman. Is he a spy or a suitor? Can she trust him? Or is she putting herself and her family in danger?<br /><br />Discover a world of elegance and intrigue, balls and masquerades as Laurie Alice Eakes whisks you into the drawing rooms of London Society on this exciting quest to let the past stay in the past--and let love guide the future.<br /><br />"Eakes weaves the fine silk threads of historical richness, dangerous intrigue, and forbidden romance into a flawless literary tapestry . . . that will leave readers breathless."--<b>Louise M. Gouge</b>, award-winning author of <i>At the Captain's Command<br /></i><br />"A page-turning story with an in-depth knowledge of the period, an eye for detail, and an escalating mystery that will keep readers guessing till the end."--<b>Ruth Axtell Morren</b>, author of <i>Wild Rose </i>and <i>The Rogue's Redemption<br /></i><br />"This is the kind of book I look forward to reading when I want to be uplifted and carried away."--<b>Jennifer Hudson Taylor</b>, author of <i>Highland Blessings</i> and <i>Highland Sanctuary<br /></i><br /><b>Laurie Alice Eakes</b> is the author of <i>Lady in the Mist </i>as well as several other novels. She won a National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency in 2007 for Family Guardian. Laurie Alice writes full time from her home in Texas, where she lives with her husband and sundry dogs and cats.
zlib_text: LAST GIRL GONE
  
  A LAURA CHAMBERS MYSTERY
  
  J. G. HETHERTON
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To my wife, Alice. This book couldn’t exist without you, and neither could I.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  
  No book is an island. Thanks to Alice, Ellie, and Annie for their love. Thanks
  to my parents and brother for their endless support. Thanks to Nancy Lamson,
  Bob Hollister, Alice Lamson, Brooke Lamson, and Tom Pollard, who helped
  shoulder the burden of all the things that can keep a book from being written.
  Thanks to Jacqueline Hetherton for her expertise as a reader, and I’m very
  grateful to Judy Sheridan, who offered insight and encouragement at an
  important moment. Thanks to my agent, Alice Martell, and to everyone at
  Crooked Lane Books. I especially want to thank my editor, Jenny Chen, who set
  this book in motion.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  PROLOGUE
  
  IF THERE WAS an art to running away, Patty Finch didn’t know it. Twice before
  she had tried to escape, and twice before she had been caught and returned.
  This third try, she promised hersel