Code of Honour
'A first-rate historical thriller, full of period detail, fascinating characters, unexpected twists, mystery, intrigue and action.’
~ Peter Tonkin
1812
Britain’s war against Napoleon continues.
Will Fraser and Duncan Armstrong have served their country well as spies, exposing traitors and rescuing betrayed royalists.
Now they are asked to support military operations in the Peninsular War. The French are using a new code which is proving impossible to decipher. Will and Armstrong must work with Spanish guerrillas to intercept messages between French Commanders and pass them to Wellington’s codebreakers.
Will is reluctant, however. Portugal was where he was falsely accused of cowardice and desertion and forced to leave the army. And Captain Harcourt-Browne, the jealous and vengeful officer who caused his downfall, is still serving there.
But Will is given a compelling – and personal – reason to carry out the operation. If he does so, there’s a slim chance he could be reinstated.
Enemy agents are soon on their trail; agents who want them dead. Somehow Will and Armstrong must evade them and join the guerrillas in a daring attempt to uncover Napoleon’s battle plans.
But Will’s troubled past catches up with him. Four years ago he lied to protect the woman he loved. Now he must own up to that lie to save himself.
Rosemary Hayes has written over forty books across different genres, from historical fiction to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books.
Praise for Rosemary Hayes:
‘Rosemary Hayes' Soldier Spy is a first-rate historical thriller, full of period detail, fascinating characters, unexpected twists, mystery, intrigue and action. It reminds me of Berrnard Cornwell's brilliant, Regency-set Gallows Thief. I am pleased to see that it is the first of a trilogy and look forward to reading more about the dashing Will Fraser.’
~ Peter Tonkin, author of The Richard Mariner thrillers
‘One of the very best historical novels I have ever read.’
~ Sandra Robinson, Huguenot Ancestry Expert
‘An absorbing tale told with sensitivity. The forgotten struggles of Huguenot refugees come to moving, heartrending life.’
~ Steven Veerapen, author of A Dangerous Trade
Meet Will Fraser, soldier and spy!
The last book in my ‘Soldier Spy’ trilogy, Code of Honour, has just been published and readers of the two previous books, Traitor’s Game and The King’s Agent will be pleased to know that the reason for Captain Will Fraser’s disgrace and dismissal from the army is finally revealed!
Over the past two years, while writing these three books, all of which feature Will and his loyal companion, the wounded Sergeant Duncan Armstrong, I have become very fond of both of them.
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| Battle of Rolica, where I have imagined Duncan was wounded. |
We first meet them in Traitor’s Game, travelling to London. Neither are in good spirits. Back from fighting in the Peninsular War, they have had a miserable voyage from Lisbon on a leaky hospital ship with a belligerent crew. Will has been stripped of his rank and sent home in disgrace, Duncan has lost an arm in battle. Now they are on a barge taking them down the River Thames and into London where Will hopes to lodge with his brother.
Right from the beginning of the book, the reader is aware of Will’s bitter mood. Despite his relatively lowly birth, he had risen to the rank of Captain and was loved and respected by his men. But certain high-born officers despised him and made his life difficult. They seized on a time when he had deserted his post. He refused to say where he’d been and then would not fight a duel when challenged. Blown up out of all proportion, these incidents led to his dismissal. Duncan is more stoic. Will saved him from certain death on the battlefield and he refuses to desert him now that his fortunes have changed.
Will’s mood darkens further when he discovers that a woman he adored from afar is now married to another. Not only that but his brother Jack has vanished. It is while he and Duncan are searching for him that it becomes clear that Jack is involved in undercover work, and Will and Duncan unwittingly get sucked into the murky world of espionage.
It is then, when Will sees that there are other ways of serving his country, that the fog in his mind begins to clear. He takes huge risks in his determination to track down a traitor within the British Government. With his quick wits and Duncan’s sharp eyes, they unmask the traitor – but with tragic results.
At the beginning of book 2, The King’s Agent, we find Will still full of guilt at what he caused to happen in book 1. He and Duncan are now officially undercover agents and are sent to France to rescue royalists and British spies who have been betrayed. It is here that Will comes into his own; feeling he has nothing to lose, he and Duncan embed themselves with the enemy, chase and are chased, use all manner of disguises and rub shoulders with that most loathome man, Napoleon’s Chief of Police, Joseph Fouché. He was ruthless in his pursuit of British spies or those in France with royalist sympathies, torturing and executing them. He was dubbed ‘the most feared man in France’ and even Napoleon was quoted as saying, ‘I fear Fouché more than all the armies of Europe’.
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| Joseph Fouché |
In The King’s Agent, Will regains his self-respect. He and Duncan have done a brilliant job, under terrifying conditions, in rescuing undercover agents and bringing them to safety and he’s met a beautiful and brave woman. He feels he can leave the service with his head held high and go back to help his father on their farm in Northumberland.
But then, in Code of Honour, Will and Duncan are recalled and sent on one final mission. The French are using a new code which is proving impossible to decipher. Will and Duncan must work with the Spanish guerrillas to intercept coded messages between French Commanders and pass them to Wellington’s codebreakers. This mission proves just as dangerous as the others they have undertaken – and it is in the country where Will was accused of cowardice.
His troubled past catches up with him. But he is a different man now. Four years ago he left Portugal, disgraced and bitter, but now he no longer has to prove himself and he feels able to tell the truth. For which, at last, he is rewarded.
Will is a complex character. When we first meet him, he is at his lowest. Riddled by self- doubt and shame but also bitter at his unfair dismissal because, out of loyalty, he refused to reveal something which would clear his name but ruin someone else.
The one constant in his life is the loyalty of his Sergeant. Duncan Armstrong has never let him down and his stoicism and no-nonsense approach to life keep Will going and give him the strength to prove himself and serve his country in another way.
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Rosemary Hayes
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