Miss Julia Prior knew her life was about to change—and not for the better.
Yesterday her dear father had been laid to rest in the Bentley churchyard.
Anthony Steele, the Earl of Brett, seized the letter addressed to his sister from the silver tray in the entry hall.
The post might tell him the name of his sister's lover.
“Madelyn, pay attention! Listen to me.” Lady Kathleen Emmett snapped her fan against the folds of her day dress, the sound sharp as a whip. She pointed toward the faded brown sofa. “Lord Cuthell is perverted. An odd fish. Cruel, vile, wicked—a devil in human form. If you wed him, he will strangle you to death after first breaking every bone in your body.”
The Earl of Fowle did not look like a devil—no horns, no tail, no pitchfork in hand. Yet, in Amelia’s mind, he belonged in hell.