Nicholas Tempest

Born the son of Sir Richard Tempest and Margret Coupland, he prefers to think of himself more informally as Nick. That was the name he was granted in childhood by Henry, his brother, close as a twin since less than a year separated them. It’s a reminder of the happiest days of his life, known and lost before his tenth birthday. Because once their mother died, Nick was taken from his family home to be raised by his uncle, Baronet Sir Bartholomew Coupland, to be the heir to Howe Hall and all its estates.

But even as a child in Howe, he understood he was heir to more than just the baronetcy. He was also heir to a great secret. A secret his family and the Couplands had been a party to for generations.

Now, he is twenty-one, newly come to the full responsibilities of adulthood and all that means. Nick is keen to show he is a worthy heir to both the title his uncle will one day leave him and this other, mysterious, inheritance whose demands shape his life.

The first step in doing so is to play his part in ridding the world of the traitor Philip Lord…