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Chapter One
May 30, 1809
Mira Fitzhenry sat at her dressing table, gazing forlornly at her reflection in the chipped and cloudy mirror She knew she would never be a fashionable beauty: her curves were too bold for the diaphanous gowns, her feet were too large for the dainty slippers, and her hair was too…well, red Not a rich auburn or a sunny strawberry blond, but a true and tawdry red
She felt ridiculous even trying to look the part of the lovely young debutante She rather favored mathematics over minuets, anyhow
Her brow furrowing in consternation, she stabbed a pin in her hair and tilted her head to the left She caught sight of the folded copy of the Tiainst her volition, she leaned forward to read again the brief announceed her life forever:
Mr George Fitzhenry announces the engageht Honorable, The Viscount Ashfield
She grabbed another hairpin fro it into her tresses Her hand in ame, traded to Ashfield’s father, Lord Sebastian Ellerby, Earl Blackwell, to cover her Uncle George’s staggering ga debt Did a bartered bride really need to impress her fiancé?
As she pondered that question, Mirabelle Fitzhenry the Younger, known to friends and family as Bella, burst into Mira’s bedroom without so much as a by-your-leave
“There you are!” she exclaimed as she moved to the end of Mira’s bed, and, with a little hop, perched herself there
Mira continued to fuss with her hair, deciding that she should strive to look her best whether anyone cared or not “Yes, here I am Where else would I be?”
Bella kicked her slipper-shod feet back and forth She did not even attempt to keep the smirk from her face or her voice when she responded “I don’t know Given that you are about to ht have fled After all, you are promised to him for the rest…of…your…life,” she concluded with melodramatic flair
Mira shot a disgruntled look at her cousin in the e will ever take place Neither Blackwell nor Ashfield are fools Once they realize they have been duped, handed the proverbial cuckoo’s egg, Ashfield will cry off It is as simple as that”
Bella shook her head, sending her own perfect blond ringlets bouncing “I would not count on Ashfield jilting you just because you’re a trifle long in the tooth and, well, plain Maentle to do”
Giving up on her hair, Mira turned to face Bella “There is a quite grievous flaw in Aunt Kitty’s logic, Bella Blackwell is desperate to find a bride for his son because he is an alleged killer” She sed and forced herself to go on, the voice of reason in this uilty of those crio, we cannot rely upon hiement, and there is a very real possibility that he will cry off So I, for one, shall not be the least surprised when he publicly rejects me and denounces our entire family Not surprised in the least”
Bella rolled her eyes “Mira, Mira, Mira It’s more thana murderer and all Maman says that even if Ashfield wishes to cry off, Blackill not allow it I believe you are well and truly stuck with Ashfield And I alad that you will marry him rather than me” With a shiver of delicious dread, Bella continued, “I would not wish to marry a murderer”
Mira did not travel in Society as much as did Bella, but she had friends and those friends did, on occasion, indulge in gossip She had heard the stories about Ashfield, the man some called the “Butcher of Bidwell” About how he spent his days locked away in a tower practicing the black arts About how he roa for young innocents to sacrifice for his evil endeavors About the one young wouessed his dark secrets and paid the ultimate price Under other circuhtfully dramatic…and utterly preposterous As it was now, she could not help the foreboding that shivered through her at the very mention of Ashfield’s name