THE BEST IS YET TO BE
A Medieval Romance
By Kathryn Le Veque
Part of the de Wolfe Pack series
© Copyright 2019 by Kathryn Le Veque
Kindle Edition
Text by Kathryn Le Veque
Cover by Kim Killion
Edited by Scott Moreland
Reproduction of any kind except where it pertains to short quotes in relation to advertising or promotion is strictly prohibited.
All Rights Reserved.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
License Notes:
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook, once purchased, may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or borrow it, or it was not purchased for you and given as a gift for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. If this book was purchased on an unauthorized platform, then it is a pirated and/or unauthorized copy and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Do not purchase or accept pirated copies. Thank you for respecting the author’s hard work.
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Kathryn Le Veque Novels
Medieval Romance:
De Wolfe Pack Series:
Warwolfe
The Wolfe
Nighthawk
ShadowWolfe
DarkWolfe
A Joyous de Wolfe Christmas
BlackWolfe
Serpent
A Wolfe Among Dragons
Scorpion
StormWolfe
Dark Destroyer
The Lion of the North
Walls of Babylon
The Best Is Yet To Be
The de Russe Legacy:
The Falls of Erith
Lord of War: Black Angel
The Iron Knight
Beast
The Dark One: Dark Knight
The White Lord of Wellesbourne
Dark Moon
Dark Steel
A de Russe Christmas Miracle
The de Lohr Dynasty:
While Angels Slept
Rise of the Defender
Steelheart
Shadowmoor
Silversword
Spectre of the Sword
Unending Love
Archangel
Lords of East Anglia:
While Angels Slept
Godspeed
Great Lords of le Bec:
Great Protector
House of de Royans:
Lord of Winter
To the Lady Born
The Centurion
Lords of Eire:
Echoes of Ancient Dreams
Blacksword
The Darkland
Ancient Kings of Anglecynn:
The Whispering Night
Netherworld
Battle Lords of de Velt:
The Dark Lord
Devil’s Dominion
Bay of Fear
The Dark Lord’s First Christmas
Reign of the House of de Winter:
Lespada
Swords and Shields
De Reyne Domination:
Guardian of Darkness
With Dreams
The Fallen One
House of d’Vant:
Tender is the Knight (House of d’Vant)
The Red Fury (House of d’Vant)
The Dragonblade Series:
Fragments of Grace
Dragonblade
Island of Glass
The Savage Curtain
The Fallen One
Great Marcher Lords of de Lara
Lord of the Shadows
Dragonblade
Fragments of Grace
Island of Glass
Queen of Lost Stars
Lords of Pembury:
The Savage Curtain
Lords of Thunder: The de Shera Brotherhood Trilogy
The Thunder Lord
The Thunder Warrior
The Thunder Knight
The Great Knights of de Moray:
Shield of Kronos
The Gorgon
The House of De Nerra:
The Promise
The Falls of Erith
Vestiges of Valor
Realm of Angels
Highland Warriors of Munro:
The Red Lion
Deep Into Darkness
The House of de Garr:
Lord of Light
Realm of Angels
Saxon Lords of Hage:
The Crusader
Kingdom Come
High Warriors of Rohan:
High Warrior
The House of Ashbourne:
Upon a Midnight Dream
The House of D’Aurilliac:
Valiant Chaos
The House of De Dere:
Of Love and Legend
St. John and de Gare Clans:
The Warrior Poet
The House of de Bretagne:
The Questing
The House of Summerlin:
The Legend
The Kingdom of Hendocia:
Kingdom by the Sea
The Executioner Knights:
By the Unholy Hand
The Promise (also Noble Knights of de Nerra)
The Mountain Dark
Starless
A Time of End
Contemporary Romance:
Kathlyn Trent/Marcus Burton Series:
Valley of the Shadow
The Eden Factor
Canyon of the Sphinx
The American Heroes Anthology Series:
The Lucius Robe
Fires of Autumn
Evenshade
Sea of Dreams
Purgatory
Other non-connected Contemporary Romance:
Lady of Heaven
Darkling, I Listen
In the Dreaming Hour
River’s End
The Fountain
Sons of Poseidon:
The Immortal Sea
Pirates of Britannia Series (with Eliza Knight):
Savage of the Sea by Eliza Knight
Leader of Titans by Kathryn Le Veque
The Sea Devil by Eliza Knight
Sea Wolfe by Kathryn Le Veque
Note: All Kathryn’s novels are designed to be read as stand-alones, although many have cross-over characters or cross-over family groups. Novels that are grouped together have related characters or family groups. You will notice that some series have the same books; that is because they are cross-overs. A hero in one book may be the secondary character in another.
There is NO reading order except by chronology, but even in that case, you can still read the books as stand-alones. No novel is connected to another by a cliff hanger, and every book has an HEA.
Series are clearly marked. All series contain the same characters or family groups except the American Heroes Series, which is an anthology with unrelated characters.
For more information, find it in A Reader’s Guide to the Medieval World of Le Veque.
Paris de Norville (The Wolfe) and Jemma Scott Hage (The Wolfe) find love in their sunset years
… with each other?!
It seems like an impossible suggestion. Paris and Jemma first met in The Wolfe in a fiery explosion of temper and taunting – her temper mostly because he was taunting. Handsome and arrogant in his youth, Paris was a powerful knight, second in command to the great William de Wolfe, and found great sport in taunting a Scots captive named Jemma Scott.
Pretty, amber-eyed Jemma was the oil to his water. The fire to his ice. Perhaps the sparks that flew between them at first were those of attraction, but soon another knight had Jemma’s attention and Paris was relegated to a role of both friend and tormenter. He affectionately called her Banshee and what she called him is not fit for delicate ears.
It was a like/hate relationship for the ages.
The years passed and Paris married Jemma’s cousin, Caladora. They had a wonderful marriage but sickness took Caladora from him and Jemma lost her beloved husband, Kieran.
Missing Kieran, and missing Caladora, now it is Paris and Jemma again in their twilight years as the sparks that flew between them so long ago are rekindled.
Find out how sweet and romantic love the second time can be as two widowers discover that life is worth living again… with each other. Love can be passionate and powerful, no matter what the age.
“Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be…”
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Kathryn Le Veque Novels
About the Book
Author’s Note
The parents, children, and grandchildren of the de Wolfe Pack
Herald of the House of de Norville
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
About Kathryn Le Veque
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Poppy, Bonny, and Kee…
That’s what William, Paris, and Kieran were called by their grandchildren. Who knew the fiercest knights in the north of England could be reduced to such pet names? But that’s one of the things I love about them – that they would lend themselves so completely and honestly to their grandchildren.
This was a tough book to write, emotionally. Chronologically, this is the very last de Wolfe Pack book because a few key characters are gone and now the grandchildren are having children. Paris and William are in their nineties in this novel (if you’re keeping track of age). In Medieval times, that was unheard of, but then again, when did those guys ever do anything “normal”? They are immortal in my eyes and will continue to be so.
One of the fun things you’ll find in this book is a three-generation chart of the de Wolfe pack – parents, children, and grandchildren. It took some work to pull that together, but I think it’s important to see how William de Wolfe and his knights “were fruitful and multiplied”. William’s grandson and namesake, Scott’s son William, even married Christopher de Lohr’s great-granddaughter, binding those two houses. I will write that story in WolfeStrike, coming in 2021.
Two key locations in this book are, of course, Northwood Castle and Castle Questing. Those are fixtures in the de Wolfe Pack books. Northwood Castle is Norham Castle, right on the Scottish border. It’s a castle that in “real life” was owned and used by the Bishops of Durham and saw many battles with the Scots over the centuries. But in my universe, another name for Norham is Northwood Castle and it belongs to the Earls of Teviot.
Castle Questing doesn’t exist, but I have the exact location of it, and it is everything I describe in the books – on a hill overlooking the countryside. The only thing missing is the castle. It is exactly 11 miles between Northwood Castle and Castle Questing, a distance that, on a good day in good weather, a man can make on a swift horse in well under an hour.
This isn’t a huge book, and it was never meant to be, but more of a story of two people finding each other in a most unexpected way. There’s some turmoil, some confusion, and then the realization that something quite extraordinary is happening, but it all happens in a very wonderful and natural way. I truly hope you enjoy this “silver fox” romance that involves two of my oldest and dearest characters, tastefully and very sweetly done.
Did I think they’d ever get together? Hell, no! And that’s what makes this so much fun!
Hugs,
The parents, children, and grandchildren of the de Wolfe Pack
1293 A.D.
William and Jordan Scott de Wolfe
Total children: 10
Total grandchildren: 75 (including 4 deceased, 7 adopted, 3 step-grandchildren)
Scott (Troy’s twin) – (Wife #1 Lady Athena de Norville, has issue. Wife #2, Lady Avrielle Huntley du Rennic, has issue)
With Athena
• William (married Lily de Lohr, has issue)
• Thomas
• Andrew (deceased)
• Beatrice (deceased)
With Avrielle
• Sophia (with Nathaniel du Rennic)
• Stephen (with Nathaniel du Rennic)
• Sorcha(with Nathaniel du Rennic)
• Jeremy
• Nathaniel
• Alexander
• Seraphina
• Jordan
Troy (Scott’s twin) – (Wife #1 Lady Helene de Norville, has issue. Wife #2 Lady Rhoswyn Kerr, has issue)
With Helene
• Andreas
• Acacia (deceased)
• Arista (deceased)
With Rhoswyn
• Gareth
• Corey
• Reed
• Tavin
• Tristan
• Elsbeth
• Madeleine
Patrick – (Married to Lady Brighton de Favereux, has issue)
• Markus
• Cassius
• Magnus
• Titus
• Thora
• Kristiana
James – (Wife #1 Lady Rose Hage, has issue. Wife #2, Asmara ap Cader, has issue)
With Rose
• Ronan
• Isabella
With Asmara (as Blayth)
• Maddoc
• Bowen
• Caius
• Garreth (known as Gar)
Katheryn (James’ twin) – (Married to Sir Alec Hage, has issue)
• Edward
• Axel
• Christoph
• Kieran
• Christian
Evelyn – (Married to Sir Hector de Norville, has issue)
• Atreus
• Hermes
• Lisbet
• Adele
• Aline
• Lesander (goes by Zander)
Baby de Wolfe – (Died same day. Christened Madeleine)
Edward – (Married to Lady Cassiopeia de Norville, has issue)
• Helene
• Phoebe
• Hestia
• Asteria
• Leonidas
• Dorian
• Dayne
• Stephan
• Pallas
Thomas – (Married Lady Maitland “Mae” de Ryes Bowlin, has issue)
• Artus (adopted)
• Nora (adopted)
• Phin (adopted)
• Marybelle (adopted)
• Renard & Roland (adopted)
• Dyana (adopted)
• Alexander
• Cabot
• Matthew
• Wade
• Tacey
• Morgana
Penelope – (Married to Bhrodi de Shera, Earl of Coventry, hereditary King of Anglesey)
• William
• Perri
• B
owen
• Dai
• Catrin
• Morgana
• Maddock
• Anthea
• Talan
Kieran and Jemma Scott Hage
Total Children: 8
Total Grandchildren: 27
Mary Alys (Adopted) – (Married, has issue)
• Geoffrey
• Gregory
Baby Hage – (Died same day. Christened Bridget)
Alec – (Married to Lady Katheryn de Wolfe, has issue)
• Edward
• Axel
• Christoph
• Eric
• Christian
Christian – (Died Holy Land 1269 A.D., no issue)
Moira – (Married to Sir Apollo de Norville, has issue)
• Ares
• Perseus
• Selene
• Rhea
• Orion
Kevin – (Married to Lady Annavieve de Ferrers, has issue)
• Kieran
• Catrina
• Lennox
• Barrett
Rose – (Married to Sir James de Wolfe, has issue)
With James de Wolfe
• Ronan
• Isabella
With Devlin “Dev” le Mon
• Simon
• James
• Luke
• Matthew
• Eleanor
Nathaniel – (Married to Lady Wynn St. Hever, has issue)
• Bryn
• Rhoslyn
• Taran
• Rhys
Paris and Caladora Scott de Norville
Total Children: 6
Total Grandchildren: 31 (including 4 deceased)
Hector – (Married to Lady Evelyn de Wolfe, has issue)
• Atreus
• Hermes
• Lisbet
• Adele
• Aline
• Lesander (goes by Zander)
Apollo – (Married to Lady Moira Hage, has issue)
• Ares
• Perseus
• Selene
• Rhea
• Orion
Helene – (Married to Sir Troy de Wolfe, has issue) Deceased
• Andreas
• Acacia (deceased)
• Arista (deceased)
Athena – (Married to Sir Scott de Wolfe, has issue) Deceased
• William
• Thomas
• Andrew (deceased)
• Beatrice (deceased)
Adonis – (Married to Lady Wesleigh de Lara, has issue)
• Angelia
• Talos
• Paris
• Ajax
Cassiopeia – (Married to Sir Edward de Wolfe, has issue)