Hariot’s life is changed forever when she makes the fateful decision to take Julia Jardine in as her companion, whilst they have been friends Hariot wonders if she has made a mistake & they decide on a six month trial period.
Tensions rise more with the unexpected arrival of Hariot’s troublesome stepson, sixteen-year-old Pelham, who is the illegitimate son of her late husband Richard who comes to stay following a short stint in jail, Pelham is now under the guardianship of Hariot’s brother Sir Miles Cary.
While Pelham increasingly comes to resist the authority of his stepmother, matters are not helped by the stifling presence of Hariot’s brother, Sir Miles Cary, whose harsh discipline of the young man is also met with resistance.
Julia is caught up in the power struggle & she is torn between her growing attraction to Pelham and the possibility of finally marrying an eligible bachelor.
The characters are very well portrayed & certainly not two dimensional. I found it quite a disturbing read & certainly not a frivolous Regency novel. It is quite a dark book but gives an insight to how a teenage boy was dealt with following his foolish prank. Also his reactions to his treatment & his feelings towards his stepmother who wants to mould him into her idea of a gentleman.
This novel was written in the early 1950s & released again