The End of the World

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Hermione Merwyn leads a pleasant, quiet life with her father, in the farthest corner of England. All is as it should be, though change is sure to come. For she and her sister have reached the age of marriage, but that can be no great adventure when life at home has already been so bountiful.

When Samuel Lynchhammer arrives in Cornwall, having journeyed the width of the country, he is down to his last few quid and needs to find work for his keep. Spurned by the most successful mine owner in the county, Gavin Tadcaster, Samuel finds work for Gavin's adversary, Sir Lawrence Merwyn.

Can working for Sir Lawrence, the father of two young women on the cusp of their first season to far away London, be what Samuel needs to help him resolve the reasons for his running away from his obligations in the east of the country? Will the daughters be able to find happiness in the desolate landscapes and deadly mines of their home?

The End of the World is set amidst just such a backdrop. Here is the world of Regency England where war is raging at sea and on the Continent. The Tadcasters and Merwyns are not the Capulets and Montagues. At least not so you would notice. But appearances on the surface belie what occurs behind the closed door of a study or library and is not brought into the drawing room.

When all was as it should be, it never remains the same and with London looming in the futures of the girls, the cares of Cornwall should be placed behind them. But that is something that just can not be done.