The Lonely House

Recently orphaned and still half-dazed by grief, Lily Fairfield travels alone from the quiet English life of The Nest to the dazzling uncertainty of Monte Carlo. Sweet, imaginative, and old-fashioned, she carries only a little money, a letter of introduction, and a fragile hope that her distant relation, the Countess Polda, will offer safety at La Solitude. But the villa above the city is remote, shuttered, and faintly eerie, and Lily soon finds herself entering a world of faded aristocracy, hidden motives, and postwar loneliness. On the journey she is rescued by the genial M. Popeau and the charming Captain Angus Stuart, whose kindness eases her fears and whose presence begins to stir romantic possibilities. At La Solitude, Popeau quickly senses that Count Beppo Polda, handsome and idle, may be hunting a rich wife, while Lily remains intrigued rather than alarmed. Monte Carlo then draws her into its glittering temptations: she gambles for the first time, wins, loses, and begins to glimpse the unstable pleasures beneath the brightness. As theft, superstition, and suspicion shadow her adventures, Lily stands poised between innocence and experience, attraction and danger. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.