title: The Tricorn Hat
author: Beesley, J.M.
description: At the age of fifteen, the young Alexander Knowle, Marquis of Ashburton becomes godfather to his older friend, Sir Christopher Turpington's daughter, Harriet (Harry). Zander takes his godfatherly responsibilities seriously, and with Harriet not being interested in the female pursuits such as painting and embroidery, he teaches her to ride, drive, shoot, fish, and fence. When Harriet is six years of age, her mother dies,and to forget the woman he loved so deeply Sir Christopher bury's himself in his career in the army to forget her and Harriet and her two brothers are left to be raised by a nanny and governess. When Alexander is seventeen years of age his father, the Duke of Tamar, buys him a commission in the army. At first, he is based at Horse Guards in London, and as Sir Christopher is serving abroad, Alexander takes a hand in the upbringing, of his god-daughter. However, when Harriet reaches the age of fifteen, she becomes bored with her life in the west country, and when the opportunity for her to play a prank on her visiting maiden aunt, she takes to life on the road as a highwayman. After three years, her career is brought to an end when the Marquis discovers what she is doing. For some years Alexander, now the Duke of Tamar,is posted abroard to fight in the Napoleonic wars. However, when eventually he returns to England to attend his god-daughters 'coming out' ball He finds Harriet, at almost twenty-four years of age, is no longer. the child he left behind but has now become a woman, a woman who appears to attract uninvited trouble from which the Duke has to extract her. This lively adventurous and sometimes humerous romance is set in the early part of Regency England.