CHAPTER ONE
1883 - SIXTEEN YEARS LATERLord Robert Templeton now threw his head into his hands as Stringer, their butler, walked towards him with a sepulchral air.
“My father?” he cried, knowing the answer even before Stringer had uttered a word.
“He passed away ten minutes ago,” whispered the butler, bowing his head.
Robert did not even take off his dusty overcoat or think about his long military boots that still bore the scars from the bitter campaign he had just fought in India.
He tore up the magnificent staircase, two steps at a time. This was not the homecoming that he had envisaged on the long sea journey back from India.
With his duties fulfilled, he had longed to be home at Ledbury Hall once more and to see his family.
Long years had passed since he had first been sent out t
