WHICH WAS MORE INTRIGUING--THE GRAND ESTATE OR THE FEISTY FEMALE?When Captain Jack Vespa suffers a head injury in battle, he chooses to recuperate at his family\'s estate, the dilapidated--some say haunted--Alabaster Royal. It is there he meets, in a rather surprising fashion, Lady Francesca and her lovely, if volatile granddaughter, Miss Consuela Jones.Determined to discover who murdered Consuela\'s father, it seems these two interlopers have made themselves at home. The mystery, Consuela avows, has to do with this estate. And much to his dismay, Jack indeed discovers some devilish doings at the old manse. Moreover, he cannot help but discern that the lovely Consuela is as enticing as the riddle of Alabaster Royal!Patricia Veryan is a winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times