Prologue

L ady Athena Thompson stared at the treasure chest located in the attic. She had never seen anything more beautiful in all her life. It was a rich mahogany with gold filigree, and it was covered in a layer of dust. The box was larger than a jewelry chest, meaning it could hold more than mere baubles.

"What do you think is inside it?" her twin sister Maeve, asked. They were mirror twins. They each had hair as dark as the night sky and ice-blue eyes, but where they differed was where their dimples were placed, and they each only had one. It was a little eerie… Athena's was on her left cheek, and Maeve's on her right. That was how the servants had been able to tell them apart. Somehow their father knew even if the dimple wasn't visible how to tell the twins apart.

"There is only one way to find out," Isla, their elder sister by two years, said. "We need to open it."

"But it has a lock on it," Athena said. "How are we going to do that?"

Isla grinned. "Leave that to me," she told them.

She pulled a pin out of her hair and bent it a little, then placed it in the lock on the chest. Isla tilted her head to the side and leaned it closer to the box. It seemed as if she was listening for something… Then she grinned and twisted the pin. "There you are," she said, beaming. "Unlock now, you little beastie."

Athena frowned. Her sister could be a little odd at times, but this was…definitely leaning toward beyond strange. "Are you talking to the lock?"

"And if I am?" Isla lifted a brow, daring her to contradict her

Maeve giggled. Athena lifted her hands and said, "I mean nothing by it. I don't know how to pick a lock. I'm only curious."

What she didn't say, and probably should have, was to remind her sister that everyone already stared at them as if they were odd creatures. It had a lot to do with how they looked, but even more to do with their family's history. All three of them got their appearances from their mother—from their dark hair right down to their ice-blue eyes. That coloring had persisted throughout their maternal family line. Their father was blond and had blue eyes, but his eyes were darker in color than theirs.

Many believed they descended from witches. One of their ancestors, John Alden, had been accused of witchcraft in Salem in the seventeenth century. He had been acquitted, but that stigma had followed him. Their mother was an Alden and her family still resided in Boston. Their American roots were another mark against them in the eyes of the ton .

The lock clicked, and Isla lifted the lid on the box. They all leaned over it and peered inside. "Is that a book?" Maeve asked.

"It is," Isla said and pulled it out. She flipped open the cover and read the first page. "The Diary of Sybil Alden," she whispered, reverently. "Was this mother's before she wed father?"

Athena swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. None of them had truly known their mother. She had died giving birth to her and Maeve. Isla had her for two years, but even she was too young to remember her. All they had were tales her father told them, and some stories from their grandfather Jack when he came over from Boston. They didn't get too many visits from him either…

"I want to read it," Athena said. "Let me see it."

Isla clutched it to her chest. "No," she said. "What I mean is…" She sighed. "We all should have a turn with it in private. This is something that we will all treasure and we shouldn't fight over it. None of us want to accidentally damage it, do we?"

Athena and Maeve both shook their heads. "You're right," Athena said. "How do we decide who reads it first?"

"First, let's see what else is in the chest." Isla glanced down. "There is more than this diary inside."

They all huddled around the chest once more. There were some trinkets inside. Three to be exact… They were pendants, delicate and finely wrought. Each had a gold chain with a small black stone attached with a gold initial embedded in it. The first letter of each of their names. "Do you think mother meant for us to have these?"

"But how would she have known…" Isla frowned. "She could not have known you two would be girls…"

She was right. They hadn't been born when their mother had died, yet here were three pendant that were designed for them. "What ought we do?"

"I think we should keep the pendant with our respective initials on them," Maeve said. "I want it."

Isla grinned. "Then you shall have it." She handed Maeve the stone with a clear M embedded in it, then handed Athena the one with her own initial. "We should wear them."

"I agree," Maeve said.

Athena stared at her own pendant. She wasn't certain she wished to wear hers, but they might question her reluctance. "What about the diary?" she asked instead. "Do you want it first, Isla? Since you're the oldest?"

She shook her head. "No," she told Athena. "I think it should start with you, since technically you're the youngest. I have no wish to marry, but I know you do. Perhaps there is some useful insight in these pages that will guide you."

Maeve wrinkled her nose. "I'm too young to marry."

They were both eighteen. Their birthday had just passed a month earlier and their father had decided it was time for their debut ball in the next couple of months. They would return to London after the season was in full swing. In late April, their London townhouse would be opened and they would take up residence there. They would have all of March and a couple of weeks in April left in the country before they departed. Maeve would have been happy to remain out of society. Athena didn't blame her. No one seemed to like them; however, she wanted to fall in love. She couldn't very well do that if she remained cloistered in her family home.

"There is no rush for any of us to find husbands," Isla told her. "Enjoy your season."

"Did you enjoy your debut?" Maeve asked.

Isla glanced away. "Society isn't for everyone." Her tone was quiet, but the pain in her voice was unmistakable. "That doesn't mean it won't be special for the two of you." She had pasted a smile on her face, but Athena saw through it. She wouldn't push, though. If Isla wished to talk about it, she would.

Instead, she lifted her hand. "I will take the diary first." She wanted to know more about her mother, and this was her only chance to do so. "And then I'll give it to Maeve when I'm finished."

Maeve grinned. "I hope she had more than advice about love. Do you think it's true?"

"What is true?" Isla asked.

"That she was a witch." She glanced at Isla as if she'd grown another head, and that was a silly question to ask.

Isla frowned. "Of course not. Don't be ridiculous. Witchcraft isn't real."

This was an old argument. One that would never be resolved…or would it? Athena glanced down at the diary. There was only one way to find out, and she'd start reading about it later that night. "Let's go back to the sitting room. Someone will notice we're missing soon and father told us not to come up here."

"She's correct," Isla said, then stood. "Time to be respectable young ladies again." They all scurried out of the attic and headed back to the sitting room. They were all seated when the door opened and the housekeeper pushed in the tea cart. All three of them blew out a sigh of relief. They'd returned just in time.

Athena stared at the diary sitting on the table next to her and then ran her fingers over the black pendant. What did this all mean? Would she find the answers within its pages, and would she be content with what she discovered?