Lady Isabella Gresham

Enter into the world of Garden of the Midnights, 1802 England. Sit down at your ordinary couch—imagined to be a damask settee—with your charming cup of tea and your own little dish of Devonshire cream. Now close your eyes and meet the daughter of an earl, Lady Isabella Gresham.

At the tender age of nineteen, she held all the characteristics of a blooming young woman. Graceful, elegant, soft—and yet she retained an unbounded sense of mischief that seemed to leak out in every perfect smile. Edward recalled with no small amount of pain the likeness she bore to his wife. The same dark, bouncing curls that framed her oval face. The same big, impressionable brown eyes. The same full, moist lips so prone to smile with the sincerity of a tiny child. She was all goodness, all gaiety—and Edward had known her equal in only one other woman: her mother.
Garden of the Midnights

Isabella’s greatest qualities:

Happy
Kind
Eager
Loving
Enthusiastic

Facts about Isabella:

She is the daughter of an earl
She is nineteen years old
She was a debutante last season
She is very fond of her lady’s maid
She becomes very bored when reading
She does not enjoy playing the piano-forte
She visits the poor with gifts
She takes great pleasure in riding
She believes in the magic of love
She loves her Savior

Where Isabella lives:

Sharottewood Manor
Northumberland, England

One can never really learn of another person from mere facts and pictures, so I shall leak out a part of the story so you might meet her in person…

Edward’s teeth gritted. “I am only trying to protect you. Is that so wrong of me?”

“Protect me, Father? I assure you I am in no danger.”

“No danger of anything but losing Sharottewood! Can you not understand that if William so choses, he could rip your inheritance from you?”

“I do not believe he would do that.”

“Then you are a fool!” Edward slammed his hand down on the table, the thud echoing throughout the great hall. “He would very well snatch Sharottewood away from you. He is the heir! He is my son!” Edward leaned forward, his heart thundering, his voice rising, “And I shall not stand by and let it happen, do you understand me? If he lives, know that I shall do anything I can to get him away from here forever, so that your position will be safe—”

“I care nothing for my position, Father,” Isabella cut him off. “I have always loved Sharottewood, and for as long as I live, that love shall remain.” Her eyes were wide, eager. “But Sharottewood is more than merely the estate itself…it is the pride that our forefathers built and stood for. It is the integrity of doing what is right, of living honestly.” Her last sentence was a breathy whisper, “If we lose that, Father, we have lost Sharottewood already.”

What other characters think of her:

Gentleman or servant made no difference, because Isabella’s love was constant. It was something he could cling to, something he could believe in, something he could live for.
From Mr. Kensley, Garden of the Midnights

“Isabella, I shall move heaven and earth to find him. I ask only that you spare me…please spare me from this torture…please speak to me!”
From Lord Edward Gresham, Garden of the Midnights

Isabella smiled at her maid. “You are a dear heart, my sweet Bridget! What would I do without your confidence?”
“You will always have it, my lady.”
From Bridget, Garden of the Midnights

His feet crunched against the leaves as he circled to her side of the fire. “You are no longer at Sharottewood, my lady.” His voice lowered. “You are lady of nothing out here.”
From Robert Digby, Garden of the Midnights