In spite of the danger, Juana thrived on military life and her passionate, if somewhat stormy. Juana became a camp favorite, charming all with her youthful enthusiasm. For the first time in his reckless life, Captain Smith was afraid.Īfter getting married, the Spanish bride 'followed the drum,' marching at the back of the troops along with the other wives and the officers' servants. What had he done? He looked into her eyes and read a girl's hero-worship there. Had he the right to lead her into a life of the cold of an officer's tent in winter, the searing sun and horror of the summer's battles? She was alone among foreigners, barely out of the convent, bred to the sheltered life of a noble lady. Harry looked down at his little bride, and with all of his will mastered the desire to crush her in his arms. As he led her to his tent, the laughter of the wedding faded. In his child-bride, Juana María de los Dolores de León, he finds a kindred spirit, and a temper to match.

With the same ardour he so frequently displays in battle, Henry Smith dives headlong into marriage. From the moment that 14 years old beautiful Doña Juana María de los Dolores de León looked into the eyes of Harry Smith, the dare-devil officer in the rifle-green, she knew they were made for each other. Yet at the seige of Badjos in 1812, his friends foretell the ruin of his career. Heyer remains a popular and much-loved author, known for essentially establishing the historical romance genre and its subgenre Regency romance.Shot-proof, fever-proof and a veteran campaigner at the age of 25, Brigade-Major Henry George Wakelyn Smith is reputed to be the luckiest man in Lord Wellington's army. While some critics thought her novels were too detailed, others considered the level of detail to be Heyer's greatest asset. Her Georgian and Regencies romances were inspired by Jane Austen. She wrote one novel using the pseudonym Stella Martin. She made no appearances, never gave an interview and only answered fan letters herself if they made an interesting historical point. Heyer was an intensely private person who remained a best selling author all her life without the aid of publicity. Beginning in 1932, Heyer released one romance novel and one thriller each year. Rougier later became a barrister and he often provided basic plot outlines for her thrillers. In 1925 she married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the novel The Black Moth.

Georgette Heyer was a prolific historical romance and detective fiction novelist.

The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer