A ROYAL COMMAND (THE HIDDEN DIARIES Book 2)

In 1791 James Coles was offered an apprenticeship in London to a City Drapers. Through astuteness, hard work and determination, James, at the age of 21 was manager of the owner's two shops. By 1820 James had married Elizabeth Horsman an heiress from Yorkshire and had six sons. His business partner William Leaf, also from Yorkshire, was Elizabeth's cousin. Between them James and William had built up a successful business with two shops in the City, a large warehouse with offices in Old Change, and also a shop in Brighthelmstone on the South Coast, which was frequented by the members of High Society who had followed the Prince regent there.

The story opens with James Coles having returned from his native Oxfordshire with his eldest son Jamie, after burying his elderly mother, whom he had not seen since the day she waved him goodbye in 1791