In fact and name, a Regency romance, and a most accomplished piece of story telling, with color, passion and high drama. From the gay, gaudy, glamorous world of Whig fashionables, a descendant unearths the story of Clarissa -- Lady Rohan -- who epitomized all the charm of a gracious era and became a legend of the times.

*Beautiful, affectionate and generous, her innocence made her unequal foil to Hesther, her closest friend and nemesis, who bore her some love but greater hate. At 17, Clarissa is **married to the dour Lord Rohan, the 'man in gray'**, who finds her youth and beauty tedious and whose indifference is pierced only when Hesther becomes the children's governess and he falls in love with her. Almost simultaneously, Clarissa finds -- and loses -- her first real love; and **Hesther stoops to murder. Dramatic entertainment and good!*--KIRKUS