[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-115451-en":3,"doc-seo-115451-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},115451,1099523885074,"Ivy","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc",1,"Story & Novel","Francesca - Valentina Luellen - Chapter One","A tense historical romance centers on Francesca, who has been forced to marry Raoul, a man tied to the cruel Borgia court. As she discovers desire complicating loyalty, she struggles between the husband she loves and a brother to whom she feels bound. The narrative opens on Cesare Borgia’s ruthless power ambitions, setting a dangerous political backdrop and foreshadowing betrayal and violence that will shatter Francesca’s hopes of safety.","FRANCESCA  \nValentina Luellen  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \n\"Now you belong to me...only me!\"  \nHer husband spoke softly, menacingly, and Francesca quivered beneath his touch. She had been forced to marry Raoul, a man who represented everything she despised. But, unable to ignore her growing attraction for him, she soon found herself torn between a husband she loved passionately and a brother to whom she owed allegiance.  \nHer new home -the decadent court of the ruthless Borgias -appalled her. She clung to her husband's professed love. With him she would be safe...  \nHow was Francesca to know she would be brutally betrayed!  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nFirst published in Great Britain (as Children of the Devil) by Robert Hale & Company, Clerkenwell House, 45-7 Clerkenwell Green, London, ECiR OHT, in 1970 © Valentina Luellen. 1970  \nThis edition published 1977 by Mills & Boon Limited, 17-19 Foley Street, London WlA iDR  \nPhilippine copyright 1977  \nISBN o 263 72544 8  \nThe text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of Robert Hale &  \nCompany.  \nThis book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this  \ncondition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.  \nSet in 11 on 12pt Plantia  \nMade and Printed in Great Britain by  \nC. Nicholls & Company Ltd The Philips Park Press, Manchester  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nCHAPTER ONE  \nThe name of Cesare Borgia was like a bad smell wafting over the city wallson a hot summer's day; the odour of corruption and evil beyond the imagination of honest people - and of death. It hung around him like an invisible cloak and most of all there was the odour of death. He had cast aside his Cardinal's robes to wage a war of extermination against any other family who showed signs of more power than the Borgias; the Orsini, the Scaligeri of Verona, the Baglioni of Perugia. The lands and castles of all these and many more had been seized by the Borgia family, to give them more wealth and power until their authority was rivalled by only one other force-the young but proud and vigorous Republic of Florence.  \nCesare was a power-hungry, ambitious man, thoughtless with the lives of others while pursuing his own selfish dreams-which was always. He was hated and feared from the lowest peasant in the fields to the high ranking officers who commanded his troops, rewarding generously those who were loyal, whatever their reasons, and killing those who were not.  \nFrom his father Rodrigo, Pope Alexander VI, who had fathered countless illegitimate children despite his papal vows, Cesare had inherited the Borgia sensuality and few women had ever thrown aside the chance to have him asa lover. Those who did, were taken by force. No one said \"no\" to Cesare Borgia.  \nHis marriage to Charlotte, sister of Jean d'Albret, king of Navarre, in 1499, brought with it French assistance for his war against the towns of Romagna who refused to acknowledge Papal supremacy; and not nine months later, he returned to Rome a triumphant victor. Celebrations for the new Duca di Romagna were quickly over, and by 1501 he was planning the next move which would bring him still more power-the conquest of Florence.  \nIt was undisputed that the House of Novar was aligned with the Republic of Florence, and therefore an invitation from Cesare Borgia to Silvano, Duke of Alessandro, the sole remaining male member of the Novar family, to visit him in Rome, was unexpected, if not highly questionable. The Novars were distant kinsmen of the House of Este, soon to be linked wi","cbCait24F7UBzyFA","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCait24F7UBzyFA","pdf",755393,3,147,"English","en",105,"# Chapter One\n## Cesare Borgia’s rise and terror\n## Francesca’s forced marriage and conflicting loyalties\n## The invitation to the Duke of Alessandro\n## Lucrezia, Raoul, and the coming arrival","[{\"question\":\"Why is Francesca forced to marry Raoul?\",\"answer\":\"Francesca is compelled to marry Raoul, a man representing everything she despises, placing her under the reach of a dangerous power structure.\"},{\"question\":\"What internal conflict does Francesca face after her marriage?\",\"answer\":\"Her growing attraction for Raoul pulls her between the husband she loves passionately and a brother to whom she owes allegiance.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Cesare Borgia’s political ambition shape the opening events?\",\"answer\":\"Cesare pursues power with fear and extermination tactics, and the chapter sets up new moves—especially concerning Florence—that increase the stakes for those connected to the Borgias.\"}]","Francesca - 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