Sacrifice
In the time sequence of the whole Saga, this story is set into the middle of the story recounted in Dark Angel -- in a gap of almost ten years during which Squire Owain Laugharne is missing presumed dead. This narrative is set in Wales in the years 1808-1810, and the heroine (as in the other stories) is the passionate and very imperfect Martha Morgan. The story centres on the activities of a deeply unpleasant secret society which has a hit list, with Martha (a young widow with five children to look after) designated as their prime target. A group of vicious men, led by one Joshua Palmer, is intent upon revenge for the suffering (as they see it) heaped upon their relatives in the past duting an ongoing feud with the Morgans of Plas ingli. Somebody must be sacrificed -- and who will it be? The story is a deeply disturbing one, which explores themes including depravity, retribution, and of course sacrifice. This is the wild west, a very different world from that of Jane Austen's southern England.....