Painting The Darkness Author:Robert Goddard On a lovely autumn afternoon in 1882, William Trenchard sits smoking his pipe in St. John's Wood. When the creak of the garden gate heralds the arrival of an unexpected visitor, he is puzzled but not alarmed. He cannot yet know the havoc & destruction this handsome stranger will wreak on all he holds most dear. The stranger announces himself ... more »as James Norton, but claims he is in reality Sir James Davenall-who ostenbibly died by his own hand eleven years before, a man to whom Trenchard's wife, Constance, had been engaged to be married. Now he has returned to London, determined to repossess his inheritance and all that goes with it. But of all who knew him it is only Constance who accepts Norton as James, her long-lost love. James's younger brother, Sir Hugo, who has inherited all that would have been James's, and his mother, Lady Catherine, refuse to recognize Norton, and Trenchard, fearing the loss of his wife's affections, forms an uneasy alliance with them. As Trenchard's own suspicions mount, the bitter struggle between Norton and the Davenalls escalates, threatening to expose every dark and bureied secret of the Davenall family to public view. And Trenchard will be forced to plumb the depths of his own despair before the final, terrible truth of James Davenall will be revealed.« less
Once again, when you think you know the answer, you don't!! This Robert Goddard is a wonderful writer. His stories are all different, take place in different time periods, and he is the ultimate master of the the story twist.