Invitation to Danger — Pat Phillips

When Julie Brown signed up for Mercutio Brookham's drama class at Smith College, she couldn't have guessed how it would change her life. At twenty-one, she felt much older than the other students in her classes, but financial problems resulting from her father's terminal illness had prevented her from going to school at the normal age. Now she was pursuing her life's dream -- and the drama group was a consistent challenge.

The drama class offered her something else, too -- a dream of romance in the person of Tybalt Shaw, “Merky” Brookham's nephew. And when Tybalt, who could have conquered every girl's heart if he cared to, invited Julie to his grandfather's house for Thanksgiving, she was both delighted and fearful of the power of her emotions. And, too, she had heard of the legendary Gerald Brookham and his former feats as a Shakespearean actor, and her anticipation grew keener as each moment brought her nearer to Avon House.

But Julie's vulnerability to Tybalt did no becloud her impression of Avon House. She sensed a strange, forbidding quality, an atmosphere laden with mystery, even danger. Gerald Brookham proved to be an eccentric old man, and Tybalt's aunt Sarah, the wife of Merky, was a baffling, contradictory creature. Even Tybalt seemed to take on a peculiar personality, and Julie began to wonder why she had allowed herself to succumb to his invitation. She even began to dread the highlight of the weekend -- a costume party at which everyone donned clothing worn in the days of Shakespeare -- for she was convinced that something darkly sinister was about to happen.