Valentina Grunowska gazed with horror at her brutal husband, the count. Married to him in her teens, the great beautiful countess had learned to fear his iron will, his cold-blooded sensuality, his arrogance. But now he was demanding that she, his young wife, should prostitute herself to the leaders of the invading French army in order to gain valuable information about Napoleon's plans for the attack on Russia. Valentina, as unwilling Polish agent, went to the French that night fearing what she must do. Colonel de Chavel is cold, contemptuous, and head of the French intelligence service. But she did not know the handsome, embittered French officer who would enter her life, and plunge her into a whirlpool of reckless passion and danger... Theirs seems like the least likely of love stories. But, as Napoleon's army sweeps on towards Moscow, great events will throw them together - and pull them apart again. As the French face defeat and a starving retreat through the snow, Valentina must search desperately amongst the survivors for the man she loves.
Author
Evelyn Anthony was the pen name of Evelyn Bridgett Patricia Stephens Ward-Thomas, Started her career as a writer of historical fiction, later switched to writing contemporary thrillers, often with an espionage theme. She met Michael Ward-Thomas on a double date in The Dorchester and both were attracted to each other.] He worked for the Consolidated African Selection Trust. They switched partners and were married a few months later. They bought Horham Hall in 1968 but found that it was costly and sold it in 1976 and moved to Naas, County Kildare where she had relatives. Increased income from her writing allowed her to buy Horham Hall back in 1982. In 1994 she became High Sheriff of Essex, the firswt woman in over 700 years to hold this office. In 1995 her daughter Kitty died of a heroin overdose, leading Evelyn to not write for another seven years. In 2004 her husband died of a stroke. She was survived by her children Susan, Anthony, Ewan, Christian and Luke as well as 16 grandchildren. NB:Some sources give Ms Anthonys year of birth as 1926. Additional information added from Wikipedia
