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The car turned into a dark, tree-lined country road, at the end of which sat ornate ironwork gates Rachel pulled her sun visor down, pressed a button, and the gates swung open

In the distance, on a rise, sat Talbot House One of Rachel’s ancestors had built the eighteenth-century stately hoenerations With the house came the title of Earl of Ponterley Or, in Rachel’s mother’s case, the Countess of Ponterley As one of the few faland that had an exeender, it had passed to the earl’s only daughter After Rachel’s h Rachel’s older brother, Jonathan

Which made him wonder “Do you ever wish you were the one who’d inherit the title?”

Rachel scoffed “Hardly Whoever has the title has to oversee the trust dealing with that estured to the house, with its many turrets, ornate chimneys, and carved detail

Harvard had to agree Even a cursory read through of their website had made him feel overwhelmed With thirty bedrooms, countless social areas, and staff quarters, the vast limestone structure would definitely require a lot of upkeep But he had to adlowed in the distance, lit by carefully placed lights and surrounded by two hundred acres of pristine gardens Yeah, it was so out of a fairytale book

“Did you grow up in there, or did you always live in the guesthouse?”

“We stayed in the uesthouse, and the family seat became a fulltime tourist destination”

“That’s a shaine what it must have been like to live in a house so vast you could have your oing and not see each other for days

“Not really” She turned the car toward the private corner of the grounds where her parents’ ho a little too le Earth “It was cold and dusty So Much Dust Even the staff couldn’t keep on top of it, and Mother never wanted to hire on ers in her home as it was Of course, when the trust took over the place, they upped the staff numbers and dealt with the dust I hate dust”

“Yeah, I’ that”

“And ere forever shouting for each other No matter who you needed, they were never in the sa as you, and the intercom system wasn’t always reliable It would have been easier if we’d been allowed cell phones, but Mother refused to let us have the brains and radiation”

Harvard grinned at the thought of a house so big you had to phone your fa there?”

She thought hard for a second “It was great for hide-and-seek Although quite often, the games were unintentional”

As he burst out laughing, the guesthouse came into view If he hadn’t seen the other house first, he would have thought this one was the mansion It was built out of the same pale lin There were three rows of s, the top row being much smaller—probably where they stashed their servants Wide sweeping stairs led up to the double front doors—which currently stood open

And standing in the doorere Rachel’s parents