"England, 1903. Giles, the Earl of Stainton, has fled from his stifling duties to resume his research in Egypt, leaving behind his wife Kitty, and his infant son. Kitty, still reeling from Giles' sudden departure, struggles to keep spirits high in the castle and establish herself as the true mistress of the house, an impossible task given how many secrets the inhabitants are hiding from her... The Earl's younger sisters, Rachel and Alice, are both...

In 1917 the Great War rages on, and for the Hunters, their friends and their servants the war is where they live now. David has returned from the Front a shadow of his former self; his sister Diana, newly married, copes with pregnancy alone, her husband at the Front. Aunt Laura, eager for challenge, goes to France with an ambulance; while Beattie struggles to manage war work and household, while racked with her secret guilt and a new threat of exposure....

England, 1903. Giles, the new Earl of Stainton, is struggling to bring his family's estate back to order after the death of his father, and he has little time to spare for his young pregnant wife, Kitty. She lives in fear of her mother-in-law, who won't give up the reins of the household. Will she ever truly be mistress of Ashmore Castle? Perhaps if her coming child is a boy, that will change the balance of power... Meanwhile, the Earl's younger sisters...