London, October 1911
London, October 1911Owen Hadley reclined in a leather armchair in one of the gaming rooms of Brooks’s club on St. James Street, a glass of brandy warming his hand as he glowered at the occupants of the room. It was late in the evening and many of the old regulars of Brooks were coming in for supper. Owen’s attention was only partially on the young lords gambling away their fortunes. A scowl curved his lips down as he watched the coins and pound notes changing hands.
He was in bad need of money, and the irony was not that his need arose from any vice or fault of his own. At thirty-two he was the only male heir in his family, and his estate in the Cotswolds depended on him. While he’d be away fighting a war, the land and house had fallen into disrepair and the tenant f
