The Beresford Adventures

Lord Stephen Stanhope, a duke's diplomat son who's traveling to the Congress of Vienna, agrees to protect his friend's wayward sister on Stephen's journey to Austria. Lady Mary Beresford has impetuously set off on her own for Vienna. Vexed with the headstrong woman he's yet to meet, Stephen despairs of ever catching up with the maddening lady. They eventually meet at an inn in the Alps, where the guests' progress has been impeded by two matters: a blizzard—and Lady Mary's refusal to leave until she's found an elderly fellow traveler who has disappeared.

On the most horrifying night of her life, Charlotte Robinson discovers the murdered body of the mysterious woman who's engaged her as a companion at a remote Cornish manor house. Then, Charlotte finds the hidden note from the dead woman that tells her to flee, to change her name, to not trust anyone or she, too, will be killed. Along with the note is her employer's journal. She speedily packs a valise, the money she's saved, and the dead woman's journal and sets off in the dark of night.

An innocent trip to the book store propels Lady Harriett Beresford into danger when a stranger—warning of peril from the Fat Man—collapses on her doorstep. Dead. She rushes to find aid, and when she returns, the dead man is gone, and no one believes her account....