A Novel Heiress

April 1, 1815

My dearest Cordelia and Juliet,

It is with great joy and astonishment that I accept your invitation to spend the summer at Bilton Hall. You are, no doubt, as surprised by this news as I was upon hearing it from my father. Who can say what events have changed his spirit so thoroughly to allow me out of his sight and London for the first time since we were children? Whatever it was must truly have been monumental.

Miss Sylvia Wordley, an overly sheltered heiress with aspirations to be a writer, has finally been permitted out of London for the summer and she has bold ideas about finally finding some adventure for herself. Her holiday gets off to a promising start when Phinneas Brockhurst, the reclusive Viscount-next-door, unexpectedly proposes they fake a courtship so he can avoid an unwanted arranged marriage, and in the spirit of expereincing new things, Sylvia agrees. But what starts out just for show, quickly turns into more, as Sylvia’s curiosity pushes them past the boundaries of propriety and Finn finds the privacy he has worked so hard to mantain shattered. But while Sylvia and Finn may seem to be the biggest threats to ones another’s well-being, an outside threat is lurking that has the power to pull them apart forever.