Vital Statistics
Name: Miss Olivia Willow
Hair: Red as a copper-kettle on fire
Eyes: Honey brown
Height: 5'1/2"
Age: 24
Birth Date: 12 May, 1786
Reputation
Scandal and tragedy taint Olivia's past. Her father and brother were killed in a carriage accident that left her mother a cripple and Olivia consigned to a life of poverty. Olivia, too, is left for dead when the earl of Tiern-Cope and his wife are murdered. She's lucky to have survived, though she cannot recall the days surrounding that tragedy.
Family
Olivia Willow's life of privilege ended with the death of her father and brother when she was 10 years old. The accident also crippled her mother. Left to the unscrupulous care of her uncle, Olivia soon finds herself in poverty and struggling to keep a roof over her head. Her mother's declining health brings her back to her home village of Far Caister, in remote Cumbria and in the very shadow of Pennhyll castle, home of the earls of Tiern-Cope. She now makes ends meet, barely, by teaching the less-fortunate children of Fair Caister.
Love
Olivia's engagement to Mr. Verney, the vicar of Far Caister, came to an abrupt end when Andrew, earl of Tiern-Cope was murdered and the man she thought loved her married her good friend instead. Olivia has long romantized Andrew's younger brother, Captain Sebastian Alexander of His Majesty's Royal Navy. But when she meets him at last, he's nothing like the dashing and brave naval hero she's imagined.
Cumbria, Pennhyll and the Black Earl
Olivia grew up in the shadow of Pennhyll Castle, reputed to be haunted by the Black Earl, the 4th earl of Tiern-Cope. Her family has a centuries-old history with the earls of Tiern-Cope. Is it any wonder the Black Earl wants Sebastian and Olivia to be married?