''Countess'' sequel to ''Duchess'', is a historical romance novel by

Josephine Edgar Mary Mussi, née ''Edgar'' (27 December 19072 March 1991), was a British writer of over 50 romance novels as Mary Howard, who also wrote over 10 gothic romance as Josephine Edgar. She is one of the two novelists to win three times the Romantic N ...

published in 1978 by Macdonald & J. The novel won the 1979's

Romantic Novel of the Year Award The Romantic Novel of the Year Award is an award for romance novels since 1960, presented by Romantic Novelists' Association, and since 2003, the novellas, also won the Love Story of the Year (now RoNA Rose Award). In 2018, awards were given to ...

by the

Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body that represents authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stuar ...

Plot

Viola Corbett lives amid luxury in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

with her husband, Count Eugene Erhmann, their children, Therese and Lorenz, and her illegitimate son James-Carlo, until all collapses with the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A story of greed, lust, and unreasonable hate; but most of all, a captivating romance. 1978 British novels British romance novels English novels Historical romance novels Novels set during World War I {{1970s-WWI-novel-stub