Prologue
London, December 1816
Fifteen-year-old Ella Humphrey was caught in a dream as she leaned over the wooden banister overlooking the entryway to her home. Two young men had come in through the door, shaking snow off their Hessian boots and removing their hats as they talked jovially. One was her older brother Graham, and the other…the other was a man she’d never seen before. Tall, dark haired, with a deep rich laugh that sent butterflies fluttering inside her stomach.
“It’s rather tragic, don’t you think?”
Ella jolted and turned to find her mother, Violet, the Dowager Countess of Lonsdale, behind her. She looked sad as she too looked down at the pair of young men.
“What’s tragic?” asked Ella.
“Graham’s friend, Lord Kent. His parents both died of typhus a month ago I heard, whil
