title: The Mysterious Earl
author: Langley, Perpetua
description: Isabel Hurst is just hoping to survive her first London season unscathed. She has lived a cloistered life at Clandsbridge Manor with the Ellinghams, and Lady Charlotte and the Countess have been her sole companions. Upon arrival in London, Isabel inelegantly falls out of her carriage and into the arms of Charlotte's older brother. She has not seen him since he was a boy and now he is tall, handsome and the Earl of Ellingham. Isabel does not expect that her admiration will be returned by this sophisticated man about town, but she begins to hope when he solicits a Patroness for her first two dances at Almack's. Before the dance can begin, a shot is fired in the club. Through the smoke and commotion, Isabel spies the Earl quietly slip out the door. Isabel's brother Griffen is a Captain in the 10th. He watched the Earl steal away too and is suspicious. Her brother presses Isabel to use her position in the household to spy on the Earl. She does so reluctantly and only to prove her brother wrong. Isabel’s efforts to unravel Lord Ellingham’s secrets lead to discoveries she would rather not have made. Now she will need to decide exactly how much she will risk to save the mysterious Earl.