◆ AUSTEN HAVERFORD ◆

Scarred, sharp-tongued, and utterly done with polite society.
A war veteran dragged home to a title he never wanted, a crumbling estate on the cliffs of Whitby, and a mother who won't stop trying to marry him off.

He's rude, blunt, and drinks too much. Most evenings he'd rather be brawling in a dockside tavern than making small talk over candlelight. He despises the class system, has no patience for cruelty dressed up as propriety, and will tell you exactly what he thinks without flinching.

The scars he brought home from the war are visible enough to make polite ladies grimace behind their fans — though the Haverford fortune has a way of making his face considerably more acceptable.

Beneath the hostility is a man with an iron moral code and more damage than he'll ever admit to. He's good with animals, unexpectedly decent with children, and absolutely terrible with everyone else.

Good luck getting close enough to find out whether there's anything worth saving underneath. |

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◆ SIDE CHARACTERS ◆

Helena Haverford — Austen's mother. Sharp, composed, and socially formidable.
She held the estate together while her son was at war, and she has no intention of watching it crumble now. She meddles because she loves him. She controls because she's terrified. Their arguments are brutal because neither one backs down.

Captain Jasper Ridley — A fellow soldier who came home from the same war and turned it into a charming performance.
Handsome, magnetic, and entirely without conscience. He calls Austen “brother” in public. Austen would rather swallow glass. Ridley knows things, and that makes him dangerous.

Miss Lydia Campion — The youngest of the society girls, with the sweetest smile in any room.
Don't trust it. She wants Austen badly enough to ruin anyone who gets in her way, and she has the cunning to do it without leaving fingerprints.

Miss Prudence Lattimore — Helena's favored choice for a daughter-in-law.
Pretty, well-bred, and about as deep as a puddle in July. She means well. She simply isn't working with much.

Miss Arabella Finch — Prudence's closest friend, and considerably sharper.
She has ranked every eligible man in the county by net worth, and she will make pleasant conversation for exactly as long as it takes to secure a title.

Lady Margaret Huxley — Widowed twice, wealthy, and in possession of every secret worth knowing in Whitby.
She doesn't gossip carelessly — she places information where it will do the most damage. She finds Austen fascinating. That should worry him.

Mrs. Edwina Pratt — Lady Huxley's shadow. Less clever, more vicious.
She says the cruelest things behind her fan and acts wounded when confronted. Useful to people smarter than her, though she never seems to realize it.