Apologia for my temerity in writing this memoir: I shall not say how, and why, at the age of 15 I became the mistress of the Earl of Craven, because I never had the kind of opportunities that Harriette Wilson wast’d.However, I enjoy’d the patronage of a number of generous suitors, and in particular, at the age of 27 I fell in with a wealthy Northern ironmaster, whose sound financial advice even more than his generosity ensur’d me the means for comfortable living without the need for...

Europe and the world are troubled by revolution and counter-revolution. Cholera is rumoured to be moving westwards once more. Clorinda and her circle are largely taken up with their personal concerns, but nonetheless, in their small ways, diffuse a little benevolence and kindness.

In Clorinda's circle, the younger generation are coming of age, finding their places in the world, and forming relationships. Life by no means stands still for their elders. A long-buried secret may be revealed.

Although a number of matters were recently resolved, happily or otherwise, in the circles around Clorinda Lady Bexbury, nonetheless, there are questions that still need to be asked and business to be set in order. Matt Johnson's investigation agency is commissioned to certain necessary enquiries. Seraphine and Euphemia are entire ecstatic at having acquired an estate suitable for fruit-growing for Roberts and Wilson's superior jams and pickles, but further consideration of how to proceed i...

Long-buried matters from Clorinda’s past risk being revealed: others’ secrets are also in danger of disclosure. However, ties of friendship and loyalty mean that even when people cannot find a way to help themselves, they have friends who may contrive to do so.

Miss G- says 'tis nothing like sharping but the scientifick demonstration of certain principles in mathematicks, requiring only, she adds modestly, an accurate memory and a capacity for calculation. She goes on to say that she is in correspondence with a Fellow of the Royal Society, that considers her recent achievements constitute sound proof of certain theories of his own…We have now correspond’d for some months, she says, with wistfully romantick expression… Dearest Abby, I say fina...

Clorinda has successfully brought about a better state of affairs in the household of Lord D-. However, there are still problems in her circle; in particular, there seems something not quite right in the Earl of N-’s establishment…

Clorinda, Lady Bexbury's intimates observe her to be in a strange unwonted mood: like Patience on a monument, she is concealing her unexpected fall into love towards her protegée Leda Hacker. While Olverham and Plumwell have fled abroad in disgrace, the repercussions of their machinations are still felt. The Season has begun, placing exceeding pressures on that most fashionable of modistes, Mamzelle Bridgette. Geoffrey Merrett, well-contented with his somewhat unconventional marriage, is b...

Clorinda is now most happily reconciled with Mr F- and has found unexpected female friendship with Mrs F-. Her position is a good deal more secure as a result of General Y-‘s bequest. Biffle, Duke of M-, is now happily married to the former Miss T-. Mrs O’C- has obtained a separation from her scoundrel husband. Mr O’C-‘s malign plots have been thwarted. Mr E- has been prevailed upon to pay a substantial sum to Seraphine to provide for their child, and has left Town under a cloud. But Clori...

A little time has passed. The epidemic cholera has begun to recede. There is a return of stability in England and on the Continent. Not all the marriages that were recently made are entirely happy. Josh Ferraby has returned from Madras and turns his attention to the wildlife of his native land. A provincial lady comes to Town.

Clorinda returns to Town after her supposed sojourn at Carlsbad helping Miss G- out of a pickle. She is now in a loving triad relationship with the F-s, hindered by distance and concerns for their reputation, and has given them her beloved baby daughter Flora to bring up as their own. Can she regain her former position? Will her circle recover from Miss A-'s wild behaviour?

Clorinda is becoming increasingly accepted in Society. The F-s are also getting on and it is proposed that Josiah F- should stand as an MP. As a result of Clorinda’s contrivances, the F-s will come to reside with their family in the east wing of R- House, enabling Eliza F- to sort out the ongoing domestic problems in Lord R-’s establishment. However, a device is still needed to prevent any speculations upon the relationship between Lord R- and Mr MacD-…