A Captive Freedom — Emma Drummond

Leila Duncan, toast of the 1896 London stage, and Vivian Veasey-Hunter, officer and nobleman. Vivian, who, because of a technicality regarding his birth, is known as "The Gentleman Bastard," is instantly smitten with the stunning and talented Leila, and the two make a conspicuous pair as they frequent London's night spots. Vivian offers marriage, but Leila adamantly refuses, not revealing that she is already secretly and unhappily married. Vivian, crushed, turns to Julia Marchbanks, a sensuous aristocrat who breaks her engagement to Vivian's brother Charles and quickly makes plans to advance Vivian onto a brilliant military career. Vivian leaves for South Africa and Leila returns to her brutish husband, but the two are destined to meet again as they both are trapped in the city of Kimberley while it is under siege during the Boer war.