Cassandra’s Reward … for Failure

For most of her life, Cassandra Stillwater lived a life of failure, plagued by disappointment and shame at her own inability to “do better.” But through the grace of God, for a time, it seemed she had moved beyond all that. Her abusive husband Howard was gone, dying of a heart seizure under the hot Australian sun. Her beloved sister-in-law Bethany Stillwater had forgiven her for her perjured testimony, which had led to Bethany’s incarceration in an Australian prison. As well as forgiveness, she had offered Cassandra a home, and a position, at Stillwater Estate where she could safely raise her four sons. Cassandra had gratefully accepted both in order to leave London, and memories of her failed life, behind. Those events, both Bethany’s prison term and Howard’s death were now distant memories, and Cassandra was looking forward to a successful life from now on.

But unfortunately, her newfound luck has run out and she finds herself failing once again. After a two-year drought, the estate funds have run dry, leaving her scrambling to find a way to save the estate from going under. But when the Duke of Yardley, Bethany’s father-in-law, gets wind of Cassandra’s troubles at the estate—despite her refusal to ask for help or even admit to there being a problem—he sends his nephew, Lord John Dudley, for a visit with instructions to get to the root of the problem as discreetly as possible.

Little does the duke know that, back in Australia, Bethany is matchmaking again, just as she recently did successfully with her friends Joe and Joann. But will John’s secretive actions put Bethany’s plans in jeopardy? And will Cassandra’s determination to leave the estate forever mean she is doomed to a loveless single life in London? Perhaps she is destined to be a failure for the rest of her life, and Bethany’s plans will come to naught . . .