A determined heiress hires a disgraced aristocrat turned mercenary to investigate a series of suspicious near deadly accidents.
Lady Margaret Landor has a tendency to lose relatives. Her mother, a delicate sort, died of consumption. Her father died of grief. Her sister died of a broken heart when her fiancé was killed. Maggie was in mourning for almost a decade before she moved in with her guardian, Douglas Townshend.
Douglas Townshend, 7th Earl of Edgewood, is a very lonely man. He banished his oldest (and favorite) son, Sebastian, because he defied him. Sebastian accidentally killed his best friend Giles during a duel over a faithless woman. When that same woman marries Denton, Sebastian?s younger brother; Douglas does not approve. However, the Earl is reluctant to lose another son. Gone but not forgotten, Sebastian remains the heir. Douglas tolerates his younger son, but he refuses to name him successor. Then, everything started to go wrong.
Douglas Townshend has closed himself off from his family. Denton and his new wife argue all the time (she wants Denton to fight for the title). Cecil, Giles? father and Douglas? best friend, has vowed to have nothing more to do with the Townshends. Abigail, dowager duchess of Edgewood, thinks Douglas was wrong to banish Sebastian (who disappeared soon after the duel). The Earl regrets his decision, but refuses to admit he was wrong. Then, the accidents began.
Douglas was sometimes moody, often difficult and always stubborn; but he had never been accident-prone. Yet after Denton and his new wife began quarrelling, mishaps began occurring with alarming regularity.
It is painfully obvious that everyone misses the Earl?s eldest son. Someone must find Sebastian and convince him to return home.
Sebastian Townshend, 8th Earl of Edgewood, has assumed another identity. Now known as The Raven, he is a mercenary for hire. No job is too difficult or dangerous. His valet fears Sebastian has a death wish. In some ways, it is true. Giles? death changed things for Sebastian and everyone that he loved. He has thrown himself into his new life, but there is one thing that has not changed; Sebastian remains innately noble. He will not run out on anyone for whom he feels responsible. His word is his bond.
Lady Margaret decides to hire The Raven to find Sebastian Townshend. It really is a small world.
