
Audrey Wynford, a headstrong sixteen‑year‑old, watches the bustling New Year’s Day crowd gather at her family’s ancestral home. She loathes the age‑old tradition of opening Wynford Castle to strangers, fearing the chaos, the grime, and the danger it brings. Her sharp tongue and restless spirit clash with the genteel expectations of her lineage, setting the stage for a lively battle of opinions.
Enter Miss Sinclair, Audrey’s bright‑eyed governess, who defends the venerable custom with quiet conviction. Their conversations flick between sarcasm and reluctant affection, revealing both the weight of family duty and the yearning for personal freedom. As the day unfolds, the castle’s doors swing wide, inviting a torrent of guests whose motives remain uncertain.
Against this backdrop of festivity and friction, Audrey must decide whether to uphold the legacy she despises or carve her own path. The tension between tradition and rebellion promises a compelling glimpse into a world where every smile may hide a hidden agenda.
Language
en
Duration
~8 hours (509K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2011-07-25
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1854–1914
Best known for lively girls’ school stories and a huge range of popular fiction, this Irish-born writer helped shape late Victorian and Edwardian reading for young audiences. She was remarkably prolific, writing adventure tales, mysteries, historical fiction, and stories that reached far beyond the schoolroom.
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