Lord Jonathan Grenford is the second son of the Duke and Duchess. Matilda, Jessica and Frances are wards of the duchess and half sisters to each other and to the brothers Grenford, as the Duke is their father.
The Duke of Haverford was gone, leaving behind only a monster, grotesque in body and mind—what could be seen of him between the bands of cloth that wrapped him to the bed on which he lay. “You keep him bound all the time?” Aldridge asked the nurses—or warders might be Read more…
Aldridge entered the room, took in the scene with a single glance, and ordered the three hefty men who crowded after him into action. Matilda didn’t recognize them. Their sober clothing suggested they were upper servants, but their burly physiques spoke of some more vigorous profession. In moments, the duke Read more…
Aldridge did not raise his voice. “I shall give you five minutes to explain the reasons you felt urged to ‘warn’ my sister. You have a tendency to be pompous, but I have seen no evidence that you are crude or immoral. Or, at least, not more immoral than the Read more…
The youngest of the Grenford wards is Frances. Born in 1802, she was three or four years old when Jonathan brought her to his mother. Haverford Castle, East Kent July 1806 The Duchess of Haverford examined her two sons as they waited for her to pour them a cup of Read more…
Jessica is the second of the Duchess of Haverford’s three wards. She is only a few months younger than Matilda, and made her debut at the same time. However, while Matilda tried to fit in and be a perfect lady, Jessica has always had a strong streak of rebel. Her Read more…
Matilda Grenford is the eldest ward of the Duchess of Haverford. She has been raised in the Haverford nursery and schoolroom since she was a few weeks old. How she came to be there is covered in Paradise Lost, which will be published late in 2021 as part of a Read more…
Jonathan Grenford (called Jon by his family and Gren by everyone else) is the second son of the Duke of Haverford, a fact that was causing him considerable distress when he first appeared in Revealed in Mist. His next appointment arrived late, apologising as he approached the table, hand extended Read more…
Prue Wakefield is the third daughter of a non-conformist preacher by the name of Redemption Virtue. These were not the names he had from his family. His father was a country squire of the ride anything with four legs, drink anything alcoholic, swive any available female school. As the second Read more…
David Wakefield is a thief taker, though he prefers the term ‘enquiry agent.’ He is Haverford’s son by the daughter of a man who manages one of Haverford’s mines in Wales. Haverford amused himself with her while staying at his estate in Wales one summer, before his marriage to Eleanor. Read more…
The Fifth Duke of Haverford was the only legitimate child of the previous duke, and doted on by his mother, a plethora of aunts, cousins, and nursemaids. He was the Marquis of Aldridge from his cradle–enormously wealthy, privileged, and indulged. When he inherited the title in 1756, at the age Read more…