Transcriber's notes:
Punctuation normalized.
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About This Book
The narrator, Bawn Devereux, recalls growing up at an ancestral abbey under the care of her grandparents, describes childhood play with a cousin, and later confronts family secrets when an uncle's disappearance is linked to a past violent incident. A godmother's plan to introduce her to city society prompts new experiences, shifting loyalties, and romantic entanglements. The narrative traces domestic tensions, rivalries, illness and legal questions, and follows her changing role from tomboy to young woman as hidden histories, social expectations, and personal choices drive a sequence of revelations and reckonings.