title: Godwine Kingmaker: Part One of The Last Great Saxon Earls
author:  Mercedes Rochelle 
description: <span><span>Born in St. Louis, MO, with a degree from University of Missouri, Mercedes Rochelle learned about living history as a re-enactor and has been enamored with historical fiction ever since. She lives in Sergeantsville, NJ, with her husband, in a log home they built themselves.</span></span>
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  Indiscreet
  
  
  Carolyn Jewel
  
  
  Chapter One
  
  How everything started.
  
  This incident took place at about two o'clock the morning of September 3,
  1809. The location was the back parlor of a town house owned by the Duke of
  Buckingham but lived in by the Earl of Crosshaven on a ninety-nine-year lease,
  presently in its twenty-third year. It should be remarked that Lord Edward
  Marrack, the younger brother of the Marquess of Foye, was in attendance that
  night. Lord Edward had been something of a rake until his engagement to the
  daughter of a longtime family friend. The Earl of Crosshaven currently was a
  rake.
  
  Lord Edward Marrack refused more wine when the bottle came around in his
  direction. Instead, he leaned against his chair while his friend the Earl of
  Crosshaven raised a hand—Cross was inevitably the center of attention— and
  said, with significant stress, the two words, "Sabine Godard."
  
  The other men in the room looked impressed. No on