Two years have passed since the highwaymen stopped the carriage bearing his wife and son yet William Enton still spends his time imbibing in drink to forget his loss and alleviate his feelings of guilt for not accompanying them. When highwaymen attacked their carriage, courageous perhaps foolish Elli, told the hostler to stride away from them, but the coach took a turn too fast and toppled. A lantern burned the carriage and its riders. The thieves caught up, but never stole her jewelry. Now in 1819 still wondering why she left and why he stayed silent when she said she was going, William vows vengeance.--- William enters Darkdowne, a den of iniquity run by thieves who attack him. The Princess rescues him and takes William to her leader Poke. William is fascinated by the Princess, the first woman to stir him since the tragedy and in a deep honesty to himself long before the calamity. As they fall in love while working on a robbery, Princess knows she has secrets that once revealed will send Will running back to either polite society or drink.--- The third “Princess” tale (see the delightful THE PRINCESS AND HER PIRATE and THE PRINCESS MASQUERADE) is a fabulous early nineteenth century romantic suspense that is a fitting climax to a strong trilogy. The story line is action-packed yet character driven as William and the Princess struggle with respective issues that would destroy lesser beings and almost devastate them. It is with each other that they begin to overcome their particular trauma although new ones surface. Lois Greiman is a reigning monarch in the Regency sub-genre.--- Harriet Klausner