The Princess and the Cop

Top Australian Police detective, Bart Corrigan, has annoyed his Commissioner once too often and is taken from the Murder Squad and given the mundane assignment of tracing and protecting a young European princess who persuaded her family to let her attend a ladies' academy in Brisbane but does a flit to learn to become a jillaroo, a female stockman. Bart has no trouble tracking her down at a jillaroo school in western Queensland and takes over the school so that he can watch over her. Princess Tessadonna Von Pramberg is dumpy with crooked teeth but she and Bart start to become interested in each other, which surprises everybody because Bart is a handsome man. Tessa is bitten by a venomous snake and Bart cares for her, saving her life out in the bush, before she is spirited home to her country by her family. Bart resumes his crime investigations and hears no more of Tessa, until a year later when she writes to him and sends him a computer so they can talk and see each other. She tells Bart that she's used the time to make herself worthy of him and when he sees her she is beautiful. She tells him she loves him and Bart admits his love for her. She invites him to her coronation in her home country of Bassenburg du Mont and they plan marriage. But others have other plans for Tessa and manage to keep Bart away from her. However, they plan an elopement and as Bart prepares to meet her, she comes to him and tells him she can't marry him and he should leave her country quickly. Angry and disillusioned with the upper class, Bart returns to duty in Brisbane but is badly hurt in a car smash and is put under Police protection. He thinks Tessa is searching for him but is not interested. Tessa, however, has other ideas...

Top Australian Police detective, Bart Corrigan, has annoyed his Commissioner once too often and is removed from the murder squad and assigned the mundane task of tracing a young European princess who had disappeared from her ladies' academy in Brisbane. She's done a flit because she wants to be a jillaroo, a female stockman, and has gone far west to attend a jillaroo school. Bart has no trouble tracking her down. He and Tessa conceal their true identities and Bart takes over the jillaroos' instruction so he can watch over her. Tessa is dumpy with crooked teeth but she and Bart begin to be interested in each other, which surprises everybody because Bart is a handsome man. Then Tessa is bitten by a venomous snake and Bart cares for her in the bush, saving her life. She's taken to hospital and her family spirits her home for more care and they lose touch. Bart resumes his career but always thinking of Tessa. A year later she writes to him and tells him she loves him and that she's spent the year working to become worthy of him. She sends him a computer so they can talk and see each other and she is beautiful. They talk marriage and she invites him to her coronation in a few months. When Bart arrives in her country he finds that others have other plans for Tessa and they keep him away from her, but they manage to see each other briefly and plan elopement. When the time comes, however, Tessa has changed and tells Bart she can't marry him and he should leave her country quickly. He's no longer welcome. Disillusioned and angry Bart goes back to Australia, determined never to have any more to do with royalty and the upper class. Not long after resuming duty Bart is injured in a car smash while investigating drug dealers and is put under Police protection while recovering. He goes to the bush during his recovery and visits the property with the jillaroo school, among memories of Tessa. He goes for a last ride and sees a horseman riding through the trees. He sits on his horse, frozen, with very mixed emotions. The rider emerges and it's Tessa...

R L Humphries lives in Queensland, Australia by the sea and not far from where he was born and received his first training as a journalist. He moved to the city to expand his experience and eventually joined the Australian Broadcasting Commission as a correspondent in Papua New Guinea. There he covered stories such as the Indonesian paratroop invasion of Dutch Western Papua and the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, son of the then Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller. He was then transferred to the Commission's south-east Asian office in Singapore but en route through Australia was offered a job in the Queensland Government. He accepted and moved from journalism to administration, where he remained until his retirement. He then started fishing and writing books and has been doing both ever since.