Page 87 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Early July 1816

Crowhurst Castle, Cornwall

“How the devil did they break the arth, 6th Earl of Crowhurst, paced before the hearth in the elegant drawing room of Crowhurst Castle The exasperation of a man driven to the lied stride “And am I to surmise that they were also behind all the rest? The broken fences, the daing of the church bells at ht?”

Swinging around, he pinned his stepaze

Seated on the chaise, a silk shawl about her shoulders, Sybil returned his stare with a blank look, as if she hadn’t fully co

Gervase knew better Sybil ondering how to answer She kneas one step away fro his temper, and would much rather he didn’t He narrowed his eyes even further “They were, weren’t they? Of course they were”

His voice had lowered to a growl; the pastto London only to be summoned back within a few days to deal with some inexplicable calamity flashed across his mind—and frayed the reins of his temper even more “What in all creation do they think they’re about?”

He wasn’t shouting, but the force behind his words was enough to overset a more robust female than Sybil; he drew in a breath and ta fury The “they” he and she were discussing were her daughters—his three halfsisters—currently featuring as the bane of his life

Belinda, Annabel and Jane took after their father, as did he, which hy Sybil, entle, was entirely unable to control theent, clever and quick than she They were also ether more confident

He, on the other hand, shared with the three the affinity of character They’d always been close; as their adored older and only brother, he’d grown accusto on his side

Or at least operating on soic he could understand

Instead, over the past six months they’d apparently transformed from lovable if mischievous hoydens of whom he was deeply fond to secretive, demon-inspired harpies whose primary focus in life was to drive him demented

His last question had thus been rhetorical; if he couldn’t fathoe what aned to overthrow his sanity, he didn’t iine Sybil would

Yet to his surprise she looked down, and picked at her shawl’s fringe “Actually…” She strung the word out, then glanced up at hiirls”

“The Hardesty girls?” He halted, frowned, struggling to place thee?”