Two years ago Megs married Godric St. John to save her reputation and then promptly left to live in the country. Now she is back in town and wants to finally consummate their marriage. Godric for his part, only agreed to marry Megs because he assumed it would be in name only. Besides he's too busy with his nocturnal expeditions to spend time with a wife. However, events push our MCs towards a different path in Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt. **There is more than one case of SPOILERS**
Pick up a copy of the book we read today, Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt!
Want to listen to a certain segment? Here is our outline this week:
0:00 - 06:05: Intro/Author Facts
06:05 - 19:59: Synopsis
19:59 - 23:06: Parlour
23:03 - 46:46: General Discussion
We include our synopses as a semi-transcription of the episode in our blog posts. You can learn more about how we compose these by reading this article. As a reminder though, our synopses are FULL of spoilers. Read ahead at your own risk :)
Lord of Darkness Synopsis:
Margaret “Megs” St. John has returned to London after two years to finally consummate her marriage of haste to Godric St. John.
For his part, Godric has barely spoken to his wife in two years. Godric, having suffered the loss of his first wife and love of his life, after a long, painful illness, never planned to marry again. The marriage was arranged by Megs’s brothers, who upon learning that Megs was pregnant and the father had been killed, blackmailed Godric into the match. Megs miscarried almost immediately after the wedding and has spent the last two years at Godric’s country estate.
Both were happy with a separate union but now Megs has returned to London because she is no longer willing to be content in life. She wishes to reach for happiness and believes a child is the way to achieve that.
Now, Godric also happens to be the Ghost of St. Giles is rumored to have killed Megs’s former lover Roger in cold blood. Megs is hoping to avenge Roger’s death by killing the ghost. Also, The Lassie Snatchers are back!
When Meg arrives in London and proceeds to turn Godric’s life upside down. (We get to meet Mrs. Crumb who will be a MC in her own book much later on)
Megs is quickly upfront with Godric about her desire for a child and he turns her down flat. Telling her it was not part of the agreement he made with her brother. Megs, who had been grieving, really did not know the details of the arrangement her brother made and is taken aback at this revelation.
That evening, Megs and Godric attend a ball where she knew she would find Viscount D’Arque, who you will remember was great friends with Roger and hunted for the Ghost. Megs is hoping to gain information from him and in the process Godric gets jealous seeing his wife try to get the attention of a known rake.
The truth was that he’d not been unmoved by her embrace. Her kiss had been so essentially her: unplanned, reckless, without studied skill—and all the more erotic because of it. She made something deep inside of him wake and stir as if he still lived and had hope for this life.
After the ball, Megs goes to confront her brother and learns that Griffin (our MC from book 2) blackmailed Godric to get him to marry Megs. He will not divulge the secret he used in this endeavor.
After leaving her brothers, Megs goes into St. Giles to the place where Roger was killed. Godric is there to confront her as the Ghost. She pulls a pistol but it fails to unload. Godric, whose libido was reignatied earlier, kisses her when he divests her of the gun.
Megs, enraged and slightly turned on, takes a small dagger from her person and manages to stab the Ghost in the back. Which is how she finds out the Ghost is in fact her husband.
I know, pretty surprising we get this out of the way so early.
Megs is instantly in help mode and rushes Godric to the carriage. Godric hears the hoofbeats of the coming Dragoons who have been hunting the Ghost, and arranges to have it look like they’re having a tete-a-tete in the carriage to get them off the trail of the Ghost.
They arrive home safe and Godric is tended to.
The next day, Godric tells Megs about his life and how he became the Ghost.
He lost his mother at the age of 10 and then his father remarried 3 years later. Godric, being a boy that age, was mad at his father and felt he was replacing his mother, so instead of going home on school holidays, he went and hung out at a family friend’s house, Sir Stanley Gilpin. There Sir Standley taught him the trade of the ghost and this is where Megs finds out Godric is not the only ghost.
He only actually took up the mantle of the Ghost once Clara became bedridden and feeling frustrated with his inability to help her in any way, used the Ghost as an outlet for his frustration.
Godric also takes the time to tell her he did not kill Roger. In fact, he was at the ball that night and is the one who caught Megs when she fainted at the news of his death. He also agrees to help her look for more information about Roger’s death.
Megs understands all this but what she does not understand is why he is still the ghost if Clara has been dead for three years?
Godric is contemplating this when he is next in St. Giles. He is looking for info on the Lassie Snatchers but also learns that rumor has it Roger was killed by a fellow Aristo…
The following day, Godric finds Megs in the Garden. He tells her he is willing to consummate the marriage but only if she agrees to leave London and her hunt for Rogers murderer once she finds out she is pregnant. He does not agree to stop any Ghostly activities. Megs, desperately wanting a child, agrees to this.
Since we are now planning to consummate the marriage, we get a couple encounters. Both are very business like and Godric leaves the second encounter angry and with these words:
“Who are you making love to, my lady? For I know it’s not me.”
In between encounters, Godric’s step-mother and remaining sisters (the eldest accompanied Megs into town) join them at St. House. Mrs. St. John tells Megs she’s had enough of giving Godric time to come to them, she’s going on the offensive.
After encounter #2, Godric goes out again as the Ghost and we meet Alf! Who is able to provide valuable information on the Lassie snatchers. Alf has starring roles in a few books.
Godric, after thinking over their last encounter, comes back and tells Megs they need new rules for their encounters with each other. Full participation is needed.
“I made a promise to you,” he said. “And I will keep it—but not as we did before.” She suddenly knew he was talking of their lovemaking the previous night. “I... I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “I didn’t mean to give you the impression that I was pretending you were Roger. I wasn’t. It’s just that what we did seemed like a betrayal of him. I didn’t want to lose him any more.” Her lips parted, but nothing more emerged because it had finally dawned on her whom she’d actually been betraying. “Don’t you think I might’ve felt the same way about Clara?” he asked low. “Don’t you think I had to sacrifice something to give you what you wanted?”
Now on another night in St. Giles, Godric and Alf execute a liberation of two of the Lassie Snatchers workshops. However, Godric does not get away unscathed and Megs is summoned for help in getting him home. Mrs. St. John, upon hearing Godric is sick, accompanies her. Which is good because it does lead to some good moments between step-mother and son. After all, he may on be of her blood, but Mrs. St. John only ever considered him hers.
Getting back home is not so uneventful because it turns out Captain Trevillion of the Dragoons has put together that Godric is the Ghost and will be waiting for him to slip up.
Two weeks later, Godric has been recuperating but when Winter Makepeace comes by to tell him Alf has found the remaining Lassie Snatcher workshop, Godric springs into action. They free the girls and Godric knows who is behind the Lassie Snatchers. The Earl of Kershaw, who you may not remember was part of the foursome of D’Arque, Roger, and Seymour. Seymour was our villain from our last book and was killed by Winter Makepeace.
When Godric returns to a furious wife, who then expresses her fury in a hot encounter.
While Godric is sleeping after their vigorous activities and also his injuries from his Ghost exploits, Megs learns that D’Arque has come to call. He speaks about Roger and with information from Megs, learns that Roger may have been propositioned about a business venture from his friend, the Earl of Kershaw. The same business venture D’Arque turned down, but if Roger wanted to marry Megs, he may not have turned it down without prior knowledge of it.
After D’Arque leaves and Godric awakens, Megs and Godric compare notes and it all comes back to the Earl of Kershaw, but how do they prove it?
In the meantime, they have a real talk about embracing their growing feelings towards one another and having it not be a betrayal to their lost loved ones.
A short time later, Megs realized she’s pregnant. She is initially excited but then is worried if she tells Godric he’ll send her away, as was their deal. However, as much as she wanted to confront Roger’s killer, she also realizes she does not want to leave Godric.
Later at the Spring Gardens, Godric and Mrs. St. John has a heart-to-heart and reconciliation and a confrontation with the Earl of Kershaw. Megs tells him she knows he killed Roger, and he, instead of dismissing her actuations, throws down the gauntlet and tells her to “prove it.”
Furious with the man, Megs is venting and lets slip that she is pregnant but asks Godric not to send her away yet. Godric agrees she cannot leave London yet. And we have an encounter.
That evening Godric goes to confront the Earl of Kershaw and follows him to St. Giles. There he sees that Kershaw has Alf, so he jumps into action. He is about to run Kershaw through, when they are surrounded by Trevillion and the dragoons. Kershaw makes a move for Alf when she tells them Kershaw has been kidnapping girls and Godric kills him before he can harm Alf.
Trevillion tells the dragoons to arrest Kershaw’s people and let him deal with the Ghost personally. Once they are away from the group, Trevillion tells Godric to run, so he does. Luckily Megs awoke after their encounter, and finding him gone, set out with a set of street clothes and the carriage. She picks him up and finally tells him how much she loves him. He tells her that Kershaw is dead and he not only loves her, but is ready to give up the ghost.
I love you, Godric St. John, and now I’m breaking my word. I will not leave you. You may either come with me to Laurelwood or I’ll stay here with you in your musty old house in London and drive you mad with all my talking and relatives and... and exotic sexual positions until you break down and love me back, for I’m warning you that I’m not giving up until you love me and we’re a happy family with dozens of children.”
“Much as I’d like you to convince me to fall in love with you by the use of exotic sexual positions, you don’t need to. I’ve loved you, Meggie mine, since you sent that second letter.”
Four weeks later they are in the garden, excited about their new addition and also admiring the tree everyone said was dead, but thanks to Megs’s patience and care, is now full of life. Just a little foreshadowing metaphor from our author.
Please consider joining our Patreon at patreon.com/tnstrumpets!