Chapter 1

It was one of those Autumnal days. It was cool and windy, with bright sunlight in a clear blue sky. Leaves were blowing off the trees and swirling around like mad flocks of birds before lying in drifts on the ground.

Lady Lucy Turner stood by the patio doors, watching nature change the seasons from late summer into early autumn. She smoked a cigarette, blowing a blue stream of smoke out into the garden between the open doorway. Her short blonde hair caught the sunlight, creating a glowing halo effect around her face.

It would have been a great day had it not been for the sadness of her demeanour. Her husband, Lord Robert Malcolm Turner, had died of a heart attack just six weeks earlier, leaving Lady Turner a widow at the age of thirty-seven. They had been married for nearly twenty years, happily at first, but over the years, they had grown apart. Now Lady Lucy was alone apart from her fifteen-year-old son Robert. He would eventually inherit the title. The land, house and money, but not until his twenty-first birthday. Until then, Lady Lucy was the matriarch of the Turner titles and lands.

There were footsteps behind her, and she turned to see who it was. ‘What are you going to do now?’ Said a voice. Lucy looked at her husband’s legal advisor and paused before answering his question. ‘Firstly, I shall send Robert back to boarding school.’ She eventually said. Patrick Moys looked at her with stern eyes and then asked her again. ‘What will you do now about the title and the money?’ Lucy stared back at him, tilted her head to one side and smiled. ‘I shall keep it all, every last bit of it.’ She said and dismissed him.

Turning back to the view, Lucy blew another blue stream of smoke into the garden.

The last six weeks had made a massive impact on her life. She was no longer that innocent and naive girl who married at eighteen to a rich man with more money than she could ever have imagined. Now, it all belonged to her. And she had plans for her life, different plans.

Three days later...

Lucy had packed off her son back to boarding school. He had wanted to stay, but Lucy explained that he needed to continue his education so that when he was older and ready, he would inherit the family title with all the land and money. That was the first part of her new plan.

Part two of her plan was to create several different ‘Personas.’ She recreated herself as Lucy Parker, her original maiden name, and yet another name and persona, that of a ‘Lady.’ She reallocated money from the Turner family accounts into other private accounts with her new personas—small amounts at first—a few hundred to begin with, then amounts in the thousands.

Part three of her plan took a little longer...

Lucy stood at the bar and sipped her cocktail. She looked around the hotel bar, and her eyes settled upon a couple walking towards her. ‘Hello, Lucy, is it?’ Said the man. ‘Yes, you found me!’ Lucy said in an exaggerated tone. They shook hands, and Lucy kissed the woman on both cheeks. ‘Drinks?’ Lucy asked them both.