The Forgotten Lady

Prologue

A dance of shadows 

The grand chandeliers of Rosings Park glittered like captured constellations, casting golden pools of light across the grand ballroom. Masks of every hue and design cloaked the identities of lords and ladies, as they twirled and murmured beneath an air of barely-contained whispers. Among the revelers, her delicate features concealed behind a mask adorned with peacock feathers, was Amelia Everly—daughter of Lord Everly, and renowned for her grace and intellect.

Amelia had felt a restless energy all evening; a gathering of silken threads beneath her skin, pulling her in directions she did not wish to go. It was not just the presence of her numerous suitors, or the orchestrated dances that dictated much of her life. Something darker lingered on the horizon.

As the clock chimed midnight, signalling the turn of a new day, the dulcet melody of violins gave way to a sudden, palpable tension. Suddenly, without warning, a cold hand clamped down on Amelia's arm. Before she could cry out or twist away, darkness engulfed her vision, and the world faded into an impenetrable void.

When Amelia awoke, it was to the jostling motion of a carriage and the sound of horse hooves clattering against cobblestones. Panic and confusion fogged her mind; her vision struggled to resolve the faint flicker of lantern light that seeped through the curtains of the unfamiliar conveyance. Her gloved hands gripped the edge of the seat, the material feeling foreign and yet, starkly real beneath her fingers.

She had no recollection of how she had come to be here, or who had taken her from the ball. The genteel world of Rosings Park had dissolved, replaced with the unknown dangers that lay beyond the carriage doors.

Drawing a deep breath, Amelia peered through the small window, her heart pounding as she surveyed the landscape. Fields stretched out in all directions, blanketed by a thick shroud of mist, and distant trees loomed like silent sentinels. The destination, a place she would soon come to know as Havenmoor, remained a mystery veiled in uncertainties.

With each passing moment, the echoes of ballroom laughter and whispered secrets faded. Amelia Everly, once a beacon of sophistication in Regency society, was about to embark on an unforeseen journey—a mystery that would unravel beneath the ancient oaks and hidden paths of a village few outsiders ever ventured to.

In this enigmatic tapestry of shadows and light, Amelia would soon discover that not all is as it seems, and her fate was intricately woven with that of Havenmoor.