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Chapter 1

Haland

June 1876

IT HAD BEEN A

Not that Toave a da into places where he hadn’t been invited, knowing he was too rich for anyone to dare throw hi would be an utter bore, as weddings alere Nothing but romantic drivel, lukewarm food, and far, far too , the tiny estate chapel of Eversby Priory had been stuffed to the rafters, as if the entire Covent Garden Flower Market had disgorged its contents there The air had been so thick with perfuiven Tom a mild headache

He wandered through the ancient Jacobeanfor a quiet place to sit and close his eyes Outside, guests congregated at the front entrance to cheer for the newly married couple as they departed for their honeymoon

With the exception of a few guests such as Rhys Winterborne, a Welsh department store owner, this was an aristocratic crowd That ive a rat’s arse about Foxhunting Music Distinguished ancestors No one at these gatherings ever discussed business, politics, or anything else To

The ancient Jacobean house had the typical dilapidated-but-luxurious look of an ancestral country s, the smell of mustiness and the accumulated dust of centuries, the worn carpets, the ripples and distortions of antiqueglass panes Nor did the beauty of the surrounding countryside hold any enchantreed that Ha chalk streams, was one of the eneral, however, the only thing Toes, and railway tracks

The sounds of distant cheers and laughter funneled into the house’s quiet interior No doubt the neeretheir escape aenuinely happy, which To It was as if they all knew some secret that had been kept from him

After having made a fortune in railways and construction, Toain But here it was, gnawing at him like orm in old timber It made no sense He was happier than most of these people, or at least richer, which wasBut why didn’t he feel happy? It had beenat all He’d been overtaken by a gradual, creeping awareness that all his usual appetites had been blunted Things that usually gave hiht in the ar He’d never been like this before He was at a loss to knohat to do about it

He’d thought it ood to spend some time with Devon and West Ravenel, who with the rest of their disreputable crowd, had often caroused and brawled their way across London But things had changed Two years ago, Devon had unexpectedly inherited an earldom and had assumed the role of responsible family patriarch And West, the fored the estate and tenants, and talked incessantly about the weather The weather, for God’s sake The Ravenel brothers, for, had become as tedious as everyone else

Entering an e a shadowy nook After turning the chair to face away from the door, he sat and closed his eyes The room was as silent as a sepulcher, except for the delicate ticking of a clock soently as h People had always joked about his vitality and his fast-paced life, and how no one could keep up with him Now it seemed he couldn’t keep up with himself

He needed to do so to jolt himself out of this spell

Maybe he should h tiible young wo one of them would help to advance him socially He considered the Ravenel sisters The oldest, Helen, had married Rhys Winterborne, and Lady Pandora hadBut there was one sister left … Pandora’s twin, Cassandra

Tolireenery and forests of silver candelabra Fro, blond, and quiet Which wasn’t necessarily all he wanted in a wife, but it was a good start

The sound of sohts Damn Of the dozens of unoccupied rooms on this floor of the house, it would have to be this one Tom was about to stand and make his presence knohen the sounds of a female sob caused hi woman

“I’m sorry,” the unfamiliar feminine voice quavered “I don’t knohy I’m so emotional”