The Roses of Ainsworth Manor

Most women don't receive cryptic letters in French-sealed in wax and delivered on fog-drenched Tuesday mornings, but then again, most women aren't Nell Ainsworth, 9th Duchess of Belward: reluctant aristocrat, bestselling novelist, owner of a historic Georgian estate with gardens in genteel disrepair, and lifelong connoisseur of locked doors and unfinished stories.

The envelope was a special delivery. Now it's on a massive ...