Escape While I Can

WHEN THE FAMILY FORTUNE suddenly dissolved, the Brandons wrapped the threads of their former prestige about them and went into solitary confinement. Middle-aged, outwardly courteous but inwardly bitter and hateful, the three of them lived in a state of suspended animosity, pretending to ignore the fear that hung over them.

This was the family that greeted Elizabeth when, in her youth and naïveté, s...