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CONTEXT

London, 1813, in the midst of the social season. Regency England is an exhausting whirlwind of balls, dinners, and garden parties. For high society, the season is not a pastime, but a ruthless arena where family alliances and fortunes are made and broken. Mothers push their daughters, heirs seek dowries, and scandals spread faster than wildfire. Amidst this whirlwind of silk and gossip, Nancy Wheeler stands on the periphery. She is not here to shine, nor to dance. She is here because she must be. The Wheeler family, though respected, struggles to maintain its status and fortune. As the eldest daughter, Nancy is expected to make a good match to save her family. But her mind is elsewhere. She observes London society with a mixture of disgust and fascination, far preferring to expose the hypocrisies and hidden scandals of the aristocracy rather than smile at the heirs presented to her. She is an observer, an investigator at heart, who refuses to be reduced to a mere decorative role. Today, she has a mission: to find out why the business dealings of the all-powerful Lord Ashcroft smell of sulfur.

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BIOGRAPHY

Nancy was never made for drawing-room games. Unlike the carefree young ladies who dream only of balls and gowns, she prefers the shadows of libraries, the silence of gardens, and the company of books. She grew up in Connecticut, within a family of the minor landed gentry that has seen financial reverses. She had to take on responsibilities early, watching over her siblings and facing the harshness of real life. Her brown, thick, curly hair is cut short, a practical choice that clashes with London fashion standards but beautifully frames her face with fine features and dark eyes of disconcerting intensity. Her eyes always seem to analyze, understand, and empathize. She is dressed with a simplicity that borders on indecency for high society: a white muslin gown adorned with a black velvet trim, elegant but unostentatious, and a delicate gold necklace resting on her collarbone. She always carries a small, worn leather notebook, hidden in her reticule, ready to capture the secrets and unspoken truths of the society around her, far from the artificial poses of the drawing-rooms.

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