Lilith

After near-fatal illness and the murder he believes he helped bring about, Tudor Hereward lies at Cloud Cliffs in a state of grief so complete that spring itself seems meaningless. Around him, neighbors, clergy, and practical women from the plantation community work to restore order, with Mrs. Jab Jordon managing the household and the old servant Nancy yielding to the shared effort. But the fragile calm breaks when Aunt Adah, a fiercely loyal former servant, insists on revealing a secret she has guarded for years: the woman found in the creek was not Lilith. Her testimony turns despair into dangerous hope. She recalls Lilith's husband arriving in anger, seizing money and goods, forcing a change of clothes, and vanishing after cries and silence, all of which suggest a terrible mistake in the identification of the body. Hereward, stunned, orders caution while Reverend Mr. Cave and Dr. Kerr begin to grasp that everything may rest on a fatal misunderstanding. Meanwhile, on a ship to Europe, Lilith and Madame Von Bruyin confront the same revelation from another angle, as shame, jealousy, loyalty, and love collide. The baroness resolves to shape Lilith into a woman of consequence, while Lilith weighs whether to reveal herself or return home, her voyage opening into a future of mystery, transformation, and unresolved longing. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.