Danger at Darkmoor Park (The Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire #3)

Chapter One

Yorkshire, England

It was going to be the most wonderful Christmas house party that Darkmoor Park had ever seen. Ten days of holiday cheer with festive Christmas traditions, delicious food, lovely walks on the grounds, and fine evening entertainments.

Best of all, it would be an opportunity for Selena Taylor to meet new people and make new friends, a pleasant diversion from her duties as a schoolteacher.

She looked forward to every minute—even though, for the past few days, she had been troubled by a vague feeling of foreboding that something would go wrong.

“I thought we’d let everyone settle in when they arrive and get reacquainted over dinner tonight,” Selena told her dear friend Mrs. Rose Hillman, who sat in the green velvet wingback chair across from her, beside the front parlor fire.

“Tomorrow night is tree decorating. On Christmas morning, we can gather in the drawing room for—”

“Selena! Stop.” Mrs. Hillman waved a silencing hand. “Your students have left for the holidays, my dear. For the next ten days, you don’t have to organize every single minute.”

“I just want everything to go perfectly.” Despite herself, another inexplicable ripple of anxiety raced down Selena’s spine.

“And it will go perfectly,” Mrs. Hillman insisted. “My house parties always do. I would rather you sit back and enjoy yourself, along with all the other guests.”

“But I’m not a guest. I live here.” Selena not only lived at Darkmoor Park, but she was also the heir to the magnificent, ancient estate.

A fact that surprised and thrilled her every time she thought about it.

Her good fortune was not due to birth or rank, but to the generosity of the genteel widow seated across from her.

When Selena and her sister Athena had moved to the neighborhood over two years ago, they had become such close friends that Mrs. Hillman, who had no natural heirs, had named Selena as her successor to Darkmoor Park.

The older woman had invited Selena to move in at once, for she was tired of living alone—a request which Selena had been only too happy to oblige.

“We have six guests coming, and ever so many meals and activities ahead,” Selena continued.

“It is too much for you to manage on your own, ma’am.

” Although Mrs. Hillman, with her perfectly coiffed copper-and-grey curls, looked a decade younger than her sixty-five years, she had suffered a mild stroke a few years ago, and Selena didn’t want to risk endangering the woman’s health.

“Please allow me to join you in serving as a second hostess of your party.”

Mrs. Hillman’s face creased in a warm smile. “Very well, if that’s what you truly wish.”

“Thank you.” Selena exhaled with satisfaction.

“I hope you know how grateful I am, Selena, that you decided to stay home for the holidays instead of going down south,” Mrs. Hillman said as she smoothed out the skirts of her purple brocade satin gown.

“I do.”

Selena’s sister Athena; Athena’s husband, Ian; and their nine-month-old son, Henry, had left several days ago to spend Christmas with their older sister, Diana, and her family at Pendowar Hall in Cornwall.

Their brother, Damon, a clergyman, had to officiate at the Christmas services for his congregation in a poor parish in London, but he planned to join the family in Cornwall later in the week.

Selena had been invited, of course, and she had wanted very much to go.

She and her sisters had been close since childhood, when they had solved many small mysteries together.

They had been such avid sleuths that they had called themselves “The Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke and Fire,” after a saying of their late mother’s—“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire”—a reminder to not always accept things at face value, but to seek the truth that may lie beneath.

They had never been parted from each other until, when Selena had been sixteen years of age, their father had lost his fortune in a bad investment.

Diana and Athena had immediately found positions as governesses to earn to their keep, and Selena had soon followed in their footsteps.

They had all served in that capacity for nearly a decade.

Three years ago, Diana had become embroiled in a dangerous mystery at Pendowar Hall that had nearly ended her life—but she had identified the culprit and married her Prince Charming, the wealthy baronet and Royal Navy Captain William Fallbrook.

That good man had purchased Thorndale Manor, an ancient property about a mile away from Darkmoor Park, to enable Selena and Athena to achieve their lifelong dream to open a school for girls.

After weathering some dire difficulties—including several near-death experiences and the solving of two murders—Selena and Athena had successfully run the Darkmoor Bridge School for Girls at Thorndale Manor for two years.

This past fall, however, at Mrs. Hillman’s invitation, they had moved the school to Darkmoor Park.

The stunning estate, with its many dozens of elegantly furnished rooms and thousands of acres of gardens and woods, had proven to be an ideal location for their growing band of pupils, and the move had given Athena and her husband and son more privacy at Thorndale Manor. It had all worked out perfectly.

“I feel a little guilty, though.” Mrs. Hillman twisted her pale, freckled hands in her lap. “I know I’m stealing you away from your family.”

Selena brushed back a stray, blonde curl from her forehead and gave Mrs. Hillman a reassuring smile.

“Don’t be silly. I’m glad to be here.” In truth, she was a bit regretful to be missing the holiday season in Cornwall with her family.

Selena would have loved to have seen William’s cousin, Emma, who had been Diana’s pupil when she’d first gone to Pendowar Hall as a governess, and who continued to benefit from Diana’s tutelage.

And it had been a year since Selena had seen Diana and William’s daughter, Charlotte, who now was nearly two.

She adored children of all ages and wished she could be more present in little Charlotte’s life.

But she had sensed that Mrs. Hillman was going to need her over the coming weeks, and that it would be better if she stayed.

Besides, Selena told herself, had she gone to Pendowar Hall, every day in her family’s company would have just been a vivid reminder that, at age thirty, she was the only unmarried—and the least accomplished—sister.

Diana and Athena were both so talented and adept.

They had both solved real-life murders. They had married well, had children, helped to run large estates, and still managed to teach.

Selena felt so inadequate in comparison.

She had only served as Athena’s confidante when her sister had uncovered the deadly secrets at Thorndale Manor.

Selena had never solved a murder by herself.

Not that she wanted a murder to occur in her vicinity! But she couldn’t deny it … when she and Athena had been embroiled in those mysterious circumstances two years ago, it had been a thrill.

Mrs. Hillman was slowly teaching Selena how to manage Darkmoor Park, but the property would not be under her direction, hopefully, for many decades.

She had recently taken over as headmistress of the school so that Athena could spend more time with her young son, but Selena was still new in the position and unsure of herself.

And as for marriage … she had no prospects of a suitor on the horizon.

Selena had become accustomed to her unmarried state.

She was devoted to her occupation. She adored teaching and believed she was good at it.

She earned a good income from her work and in addition, Mrs. Hillman was treating her to an allowance, which meant that Selena was financially independent.

Darkmoor Park would one distant day be hers. She didn’t need to marry.

Not so long ago, Selena had harbored the same worries that had plagued Athena at one time: that as long as they remained unwed, they retained control of their money, their property, and their person. But if they married, under law, all that control would go to their husband.

After seeing how happy her sisters were, though, Selena was no longer concerned about that.

Diana and Athena had married wonderful men.

In her secret soul, Selena dreamed of making a similar match—of finding and falling in love with an intelligent, kind, caring, supportive, and honest man.

A man who understood and valued her and honored her desire to work. A man she could both love and trust.

Because people were not always trustworthy. They did not always have your best interests at heart and could betray you in an instant. She had learned that the hard way.

“I realize this party was all my idea, my dear, and that you won’t know a single soul.” Mrs. Hillman’s voice pulled Selena from her thoughts. “The guests are all my friends from various parts of England.”

“I look forward to meeting them,” Selena assured her.

“They’ll be happy to meet you as well. I have been looking forward to this reunion for such a long time.

Everything that can be done has been done.

” Mrs. Hillman raised a finger and ticked things off on an invisible list. “My six best guest rooms are ready. The house is beautifully decorated. The Yule log is in place. An exquisite evergreen has been brought in and set up in the great hall. The table is set for tonight’s dinner.

And we have drawn up a fine list of activities to occupy everyone all the way through New Year’s Day, have we not? ”

“Indeed, we have.”

“Well, then, we can both relax. We have nothing to worry about.”

Selena nodded uneasily. Although a fire blazed in the hearth, a chill ran up her spine and she was glad she had worn a warm shawl over her blue-and-white-striped woolen dress. “I hope we will have clear weather this week.”