To Have and To Hold by Mary Johnston
An action-adventure story published in 1899, this hit the bestsellers list in 1900 and became the most successful popular novel in America between Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) and Gone with the Wind (1936). I think I first discovered it through the rabbit trail of my love for Howard Pyle's school of illustration (or Johnston's other Civil War historical fiction). There should still be plenty of old copies lying around, but you can find new copies inexpensively on Amazon and it's also available on Gutenberg if you'd like to check it out here . Before we go further, a short summary: Set in Virginia round Jamestown in 1621 and 1622, Captain Ralph Percy marries a lady newly arrived aboard ship from England, unaware that she is a runaway ward of James I. In due course, the villain of the piece makes his appearance and we see the terror of what she was flying from -- the lascivious and appropriately named, Lord Carnal, favorite of the King. Sword play, daring deeds, and wild