The Magpie Lord

Lucien Vaudrey returns to Victorian London from exile in Shanghai following the deaths of his father and older brother to become the new Lord Crane. He almost immediately begins to attempt various forms of suicide, stopped by the constant vigilance of his manservant, but Lucien feels as if someone else is taking over his body in the attempts, someone who hates him. Upon the recommendation of an acquaintance, Lucien requests the help of a local practitioner of magic, Stephen Day, but Lucien then discovers that Stephen belonged to a family victimized and destroyed by the late Lords Crane, Lucien's sire and his sibling. Stephen is tempted to let the curse on this Lord Crane run its course, but his honor compels him to save Lucien. As a result, Stephen is also compelled to travel with Lucien to his country estate to uncover the origin of the curse. It is there that he unearths Lucien's ties to the foundations of the magical community in England, and the men come under siege by a group of evil practitioners.