title: The Lakewood Story
author: Margaret Manor Butler
description: NY 1949 1st Stratford House. Town of Lakewood in Chautauqua county, southwestern corner of New York. Signed presentation copy. 271pp., photo illus., index. VG, no DJ.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This book is dedicated most lovingly to my mother, Tess Herlan. A daughter
  couldn't ask for a more wonderful mother and mentor. Thank you, Mom, for
  taking us to the library every week and instilling in us a love of learning
  and reading, for always encouraging us to follow our dreams, and for teaching
  us the rewards of hard work and dedication. And thank you most of all for
  being my best friend.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Prologue
  
  Byrnewood Manor
  
  England, 1795
  
  “I'll never find my way out of here with my virtue intact." Amelia, the
  Countess of Marston cast a sly glance over her shoulder at her companion, Webb
  Dryden, who lounged nearby.
  
  Seated on a marble bench in the secluded inner garden of Byrnewood's old-
  fashioned boxwood maze, Amelia held no doubts as to why she'd been invited to
  explore the twisting paths. Within the dense, tall hedges, a quiet fragrant
  garden lay hidden, providing a welcome hideaway far from their host's frantic
  household.
  
  The late afternoon sunlight glinted 