title: Tarnished Amongst the Ton
author:  Louise Allen 
description: Louise Allen has been immersing herself in history for as long as she can remember. She finds landscapes and places evoke powerful images of the past - Venice, Burgundy and the Greek islands are favourite destinations. Louise lives on the Norfolk coast. She spends her spare time gardening, researching family history or travelling in search of inspiration. Please visit Louise's website  www.louiseallenregency.co.uk, or find her on Twitter @LouiseRegency and on Facebook.
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  The Marriage Debt
  
  Louise Allen
  
  Scanned and proofed by bils
  
  Version 1.0
  
  Chapter One
  
  The tall man in the frieze coat sat cross-legged on the hard bench, put his
  elbows on his knees, his chin on his clasped hands and thought. It required
  some concentration to ignore the shackles on his legs, the cold that seeped
  out of the damp walls, the rustles and squeaking in the rotten straw that
  covered the floor and the constant noise that echoed through the long dark
  corridors.
  
  A few cells away a man was screaming an incoherent flood of obscenities that
  seemed to have gone on for hours. More distantly someone was dragging a stick
  across the bars of one of the great rooms, a monotonous music that fretted at
  the nerves. A boy was sobbing somewhere close. Footsteps on the flags outside
  and the clank and jingle of keys heralded the passing of a pair of turnkeys.
  
  Long ago his father had said he was born to be hanged. At the time he had
  laughed: nothing had seemed more improbabl