Founders & Heirs

Prologue

On the 366th day after the Duke of Ashwood's passing, the Dowager Duchess finally saw past the shadow of death resting over the manor. Her blue eyes saw sunlight gleaming off the chandeliers, chambermaids humming bawdy tunes as they dusted shelves, and clumsy footmen howling after stubbing their toes...again. Today was the first day that their public mourning was over. Now, she should try and remember her son in fondness, rather than in pain.

A deep breath later and the elder Lady Ashwood's thoughts turned to things she should have concerned herself with months ago. When would the new duke take up residence, how long was it acceptable to keep her widowed daughter-in-law by her side, and of course what to do about the books.

The Books were a legacy passed down in the women of her family, one she hoped to pass onto a granddaughter but that hope died along with her son only two years into his marriage.Perhaps Genivieve could...did she know her well enough? He knew she wasn't a conventional young miss, even before she married the most arbitrary aristocrat in all of England. Her father had been a country gentleman who came into wealth unexpectedly and her mother...the third daughter of a baronet, horrendously well-educated in away that made her smile.

But none of that told her if she could be trusted with centuries of powerful secrets but if she took no risk, it would all end with her and she couldn't let that happen. The Dowager Duchess pulled a string, and a bell rang out. A maid came in suddenly. "Please tell my daughter-in-law to visit me immediately." The maid nodded and scurried off to complete her task.