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Prologue

Katharine loved the hills and valleys of her hoiven the land after loyal service to Williarander and more lavish until her father investedtouches He declared the forty-room mansion could be expanded no more and his desire was to leave behind a well-oiled and well-run estate and house Willow Manor was the luscious estate’s name

Katharine sighed as she walked through the vast gardens and into the flat green and into the se of the estate She felt at home surrounded by the pear trees, lavender, and roses As she made her way into the small little woodland forest, she felt free and at ease

Katharine was gifted with beauty beyond coo ancestor, Rosamunde, who first lived on the land She was a sli blue eyes like a clear blue sky and a delicately shaped face

Rosahter of the first Lord Geoffrey, who had been gifted his land for supporting William the Conqueror Geoffrey had been a fair lord and hter Renown for her beauty, Rosa She was taught to read in English and Latin and was skilled in mathematics and well-versed inWhen it came time to marry, Rosamunde could refuse her suitors and did Eventually, a handsoreed to the e

The knight was possessive of the young Rosa in seven children

As gentry, Katharine’s mother and father had educated all four of their children Katharine had one older brother, Charles, the heir to the family fortune, and two elder sisters, Mary and Eleanor Her siblings had all married and started families of their own, but at 17 years old, Katharine, the baby of the family, was still in residence at Willow Manor

She had been born in the wrong ti place; that she was sure of Born into a time where wo capabilities, Katharine was a rarity Her “curse” was her intelligence Her father, Lord Edward Fairfax, had always been charmed by the blue-eyed beauty, even when she was a baby, and had indulged her every whim Her education had rivaled that of her brother, and she excelled at led at Eton, Katharine studied French at the age of eight and excelled at it She moved on to learn Italian, Gerraphy, and Sciences; her brother’s tutor, old Mr Schlagel, pronounced her abilities as “outstanding”

Her ence of their youngest daughter Though Edward remained insistent on Katharine’s education, Anne was just as severe in what she deemed a woman’s true education She insisted on dance classes, etiquette classes, art and drawing classes, and embroidery lessons to make certain that when the tilish wife

Katharine walked deeper into the little forest with those horrible words still ringing in her ears Why was her mother so insistent that she be an insipid little creature with nothing on her owns, embroidery, and husbands?

“My dear girl,” herher hands as she looked at her youngest daughter “You must find a husband soon and I dare say, a husband will care oes on in the lower part of your body than whateveron in that head of yours”