Gently reared Martin finds himself adrift without means when his uncle goes bankrupt with gambling debts. He seeks a livelihood as tutor to the young children of an earl on a remote Welsh estate. Arriving on a dark and stormy night that sets the tone for his whole adventure, he falls into intrigue, mystery, and powerful new loves -- for the three traumatized children and their enigmatic guardian.<br><br>Dylan has been called back from service in South Africa when his elder brother supposedly finds his wife with another man, kills the pair and then himself. He’ll now have to assume most duties of the earldom, raise his nephew to majority and care for three orphaned children. Desperate for help, he hires a young man sight unseen to become their tutor while he works to uncover the facts of the scandalous tragedy that tore apart his family. Both matters reveal surprising results.

Dark and Stormy

He looked down at Emmaline. “Have you any notion where this woman might have gone with Lady Charlotte?”


She thought a moment and started to shake her head. Then suddenly, her face brightened. “I-I-I didn’t, but maybe I do. She wouldn’t think anyone would visit Mama’s old rooms. She knows them well. They’ve been shut up like the old wing ever since—well, since we came back from London after it all happened and Uncle Dylan came home. Follow me.”


She darted off at once, leaving Martin and Donovan to trot at her heels into more corridors and areas with which Martin was not familiar. The house seemed to have endless surprises. They rounded a corner and came to a door. There in a bit of dust on the floor, he saw a faint scuffing of the layer indicated someone had come that way recently.


Chapter 21