Chapter 1

"What is happening?" Violet cried desperately as the collectors seemed to tear through the house like a hurricane. "Paul, I do not understand. You need to be honest with me."

Could her brother not see the tears in her eyes? Did he not care about the utterly dreadful impact that he was having on her? Violet was starting to worry that she was never going to be able to get through to her brother, just as she had never been able to make her father understand the damage that his gambling addiction had on the family, and on her.

"That was Mother's!" Violet cried as the men carried out a vase that had always held red roses. A symbol to the mother she had lost at three years of age. "They cannot take that. Paul, you must stop them."

But Paul said nothing. He simply rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I do not think our parents need any of those things anymore. Our parents have passed away. They will not miss a thing."

Violet gasped in horror at his heartlessness. "That does not make it right, Paul. You cannot say such things. You have not been here for years, you have been gallivanting abroad, leaving me to care for Father. You returning to London was supposed to be a good thing. I thought I would get help, but look…" She made a sweeping gesture with her hands. "You have made everything so much worse. Your gambling habit is worse than Father's was."

Paul had inherited a lot, including debts, but he clearly did not have a clue how bad things truly were. Their father must have been lying to him about how bad things had become.

But now Paul was lying to himself and it was making Violet's life even messier.

"It is under control," Paul half whispered, using the mantra that he seemed to live by these days, even if it was not the truth. "I have it under control."

The fact that he had no color in his cheeks and he was not fighting as the last of the family valuables were taken away told Violet everything she needed to know.

Not only did he not have a single thing under control, he had no idea what was going to happen next. Everything that they had left was at risk, and there was not a damn thing that Violet could do about it. Even as her favorite painting was taken away, and the vase collection that belonged to her mother, which she had always treasured, vanished in front of her very eyes.

"Look, Paul," Violet demanded, trying one last time to make him understand. "Please, see what is happening. Dad's antique furniture is being taken. Even he never managed to lose that. You must hear me out when I try to discuss the family finances with you."

"You know nothing about the family finances," Paul growled, his mood switching to pure unbridled rage, which he had clearly decided to direct at the wrong person. "You are a woman. What could you possibly know about anything happening here?"

"I am the one who has been here, Paul." Violet banged her hand hard against her chest. "I am the one who has seen this pattern before, with Father…"

"Do not speak of him." The way Paul acted, it was as if he was the only one allowed to grieve. It was ridiculous. At times like this, Violet found her brother selfish and very immature. "You do not get to speak of Father. Not today."

Violet threw her hands in the air in frustration. "So, what are we supposed to do then? Just be grateful that I still have a roof over my head? Is that it?"

"Stop talking, Violet. Now. I cannot stand to hear your voice any longer."

Paul's sour mood was only going to get worse, and if Violet was not careful, she would be on the unpleasant receiving end of his temper. Usually that would be enough to stop her, but today he had pushed her too far.

"I might have somewhere to live, Paul, but it is not a haven. You can see that. This estate was once blooming and wonderful. Our family has had visitors clamoring to visit Eagleton Manor. But look at it now. It has almost gone to ruin. The building is dilapidated and we do not have the funds or the staff for the upkeep. Now you are emptying out our home, so soon it shall be just a shell that we merely exist in. Is that what you want?"

Paul's eyes glazed over. This was something that he often did when he did not want to hear what was being said to him. This was irritating enough when it came to childhood rules that he did not want to obey, but now their livelihood was at stake.

He was going to have to start paying attention soon.

"I…" He started to speak, but much to Violet's frustration, he seemed to change his mind at the last minute. He cowardly prevented himself from saying anything useful which only riled Violet up further. Why was she always left as the responsible one? It did not seem right. Especially since she was not the one to inherit anything. Nor did she have any real power.

It was as if she had been given all the negatives to deal with while her brother put his head in the sand and acted like they were swimming in positives.

"Paul, I really need you to tell me what is happening here. You have to help me to understand. It is not fair for you to put me in this situation when I have no idea what has gone wrong." She had her suspicions, but if she did not make him admit it, then they would never move forwards. "So, what happened? Why is this happening now?"

Paul hung his head low. He looked like a kid again who would do anything to prevent being told off by their father. There were many times when he had shifted the blame on to other people to save his own neck, but unlike their father, Violet would not let that happen.

But before Paul got the chance to answer her, Violet was interrupted by a light tapping on her shoulder.

"Ivy," she said wearily to the one remaining member of staff Eagleton Manor had managed to hold on to. Although it was clear that Ivy was reaching the end of her tether with the place. Who knew how long they would be able to hang on to her? "Is everything alright?"

"I just…" Ivy bit down coyly on her bottom lip as her cheeks shone pink. As if this whole mess was not awkward enough. "I wanted to know where you would like me to begin today. With all of these visitors in the home…"

Violet cringed. "Perhaps the bedrooms? I have already made up the beds."

It might not have been typical for a woman of her standing to help with the housework, but Violet did not live a typical life. She had to do whatever she could to help Ivy keep the house as presentable as possible, with food always on the table to keep up appearances.

She was currently livid, with anger bubbling underneath her surface, but this was not Ivy's fault. She was not like Paul, she did not take her rage out on the wrong person.

"I will come with you," Violet said with a sigh. There was no point in continuing arguing with Paul because it was not getting anywhere. He would not hear her, he did not want to listen to a single word that she had to say. "I will help you figure this out…"

But before she could get anywhere, Paul surprised her by resting a hand on her arm to silently stop her from going anywhere.

"Wait," he murmured, with an edge of desperation lacing her tone. "I think you need to sit down, Violet. I need to talk to you. Please, stay with me for just a moment."

Her heart skipped a beat.

Was Paul really about to be honest with her? For the first time ever. She did not quite know how to stomach this. Of course she needed to listen to whatever he had to say, this was what she had been asking for, but now that he was seemingly about to tell her the truth, she was not sure that she was ready for it.

"Ivy, I will follow you up the stairs to give you a hand," she said, while keeping her eyes firmly fixed on her brother. "I will meet you in my bedchambers."

Her heart was absolutely thundering against her rib cage as she took a seat in the midst of all this chaos. Paul paced up and down for a couple of moments before he took a seat opposite her. There was a storm raging in his eyes, but this one was melancholy, not anger filled which was much more unnerving. Why did he look so filled with guilt?

"Violet, you are right about the family finances. They are not good."

Of course Violet already knew this, but to hear those words coming from her brother, to have him finally admit that everything was bleaker than it seemed, was shocking. She did not quite know how to respond to him. Her lips parted, but quickly fell closed once more.

"The debt that I have inherited from Father is overwhelming." Paul's eyes fell on the floor as he continued to talk. "A missive came yesterday from the collectors and everyone that is owed money, and it made me panic. I have never worried quite so much."

Violet swallowed hard. "Paul what did you do?"

"I… I went out last night." His eyes slid closed. "And I gambled. Big."

Violet's heart sunk and her stomach dropped all in one fell swoop.

Paul was worse than their father for gambling because he did not ever win. At least there were times with their father when he would be flush with money, happy, and ready to spoil everyone for a little while. Until it all vanished again.

But that never happened to Paul.

All he seemed to do was lose.

"Is that why everyone is here today? Taking all of our family belongings away?"

Paul nodded, but there still seemed to be an intense weight pressing down on his shoulders. Despite the oppressive air surrounding them, and the desperate need to finally get some air into her lungs, Violet waited where she was to see if there was anything else.

It was not like Paul to tell the truth, so if she was actually going to get anything out of him then she needed to wait as patiently as she could until he was ready.

Even if all this patience was absolutely killing her.

"There is something else."

The hairs on the back of Violet's neck stood up. She clasped her hands together tightly, twisting them around as the anxiety got the better of her.

"Last night, I gambled big. I was trying to win enough to make everything all right again, Violet. I was convinced that I would be able to make everything better. I thought I would be able to save us…"

"But what did you do, Paul?" Violet asked, now warning him that she was about to lose herself. "You need to tell me what's going on…"

"It is the house."

Violet's blood ran ice cold.

Did she just hear that?

She had just been raving on about how they at least had a roof over their head. But now it seemed like that was at risk too? Violet did not even know that a house could be gambled away.

"I lost the house, Violet."

As if she needed that confirmation.

"What do you mean?" Violet begged as she clutched onto her stomach which was now turning like crazy.

"I mean the house is gone. It now belongs to the Duke of Hoskins, a man known for his lack of empathy and compassion. I do not know what we are going to do now."