Torwood's trust : A novel (Vol. 1 of 3)

At eighteen, Philip Debenham feels the sting of desperation as a single letter shatters his hopes. His Uncle Alfred Belassis has secured him a clerkship in a London counting‑house, cancelling the long‑awaited visit to his West‑country home. Philip, raised on promises of an outdoor life and an art education, recoils at the notion of a cramped desk, seeing the arrangement as another betrayal that drove his father to the grave. His anger simmers like a caged beast, already plotting escape.

A second letter, penned in a frantic schoolgirl hand, arrives from his cousin Maud, echoing his frustration and exposing a tangled web of guardianship and inheritance. She hints that Uncle Belassis wishes to keep Philip away to protect a hidden fortune that might pass to a distant great‑uncle, and she despises the cold aunt Celia who enforces the same constraints. Together the siblings face the looming prospect of an unwelcome journey to the city, each step pulling them deeper into family intrigue. The mood is one of restless anticipation, as Philip wrestles with duty, resentment, and the lure of an uncertain future.