Lady of a Thousand Treasures
A Victorian Novel
All her life, Miss Eleanor Sheffield has been mentored by her father and uncle to value and curate priceless treasures for wealthy clients. But with her father’s death and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the Sheffield Brothers firm is at risk. Though she’s a talented conservator and valuer in her own right, Eleanor cannot run the firm as an unmarried woman.
Upon the death of longtime client Baron Lydney, she learns that the baron appointed her temporary trustee of his extensive collection, and left her with a decision: donate the collection in his name to the South Kensington Museum or allow it to pass to his only living son, Harry, whom he no longer trusts—and whom Eleanor once loved.
While Eleanor has reason to mistrust the baron’s motives, Harry’s recent return with a dark-haired Italian beauty has only increased her doubts about their future. As she begins to assess the collection, bill collectors appear at her home with threats of debtor’s prison over mounting invoices. Though her uncle insists there has been a mistake, the bank records tell a different story. Mr. Clarkson, Sheffield Brothers’ newest associate, stands ready to help, but the firm desperately needs new patrons to stay afloat. Eleanor could win their favor by donating the Lydney collection . . . but it will mean denying Harry his inheritance, even as she begins to wonder if there is more to him than meets the eye.
As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must determine whom she can trust—who in her life is false or true, brass or gold.
