When the Earl of Lithom, a highly skilled rider, is thrown by his horse and dies of a broken neck, some question whether it is an accident or a murder. What's more, Gloria, his stunning daughter and heiress, claims to have seen a bloody corpse in the library, its throat slit. Was this a hallucination or a murder? John Mannering - alias the Baron - must seek the answers to these questions, all the while facing a thrilling mixture of danger, temptation, espionage and even death.