A raw November night, a hidden Vermont village, and a chateau rising from the woods set the stage for Carolyn Wells's atmospheric Fleming Stone mystery. When John Haydock arrives at Hilldale and is driven toward Greatlarch, the grand estate of Homer Vincent, he enters a world of old roads, local gossip, and polished secrecy, where wealth and oddity seem to shadow every room. Inside the French Renaissance mansion, Haydock—traveling under an assumed name—presents a private business matter to the self-possessed Homer Vincent and is drawn deeper into the household's elegant tensions. Vincent's sister Anne proves warm, witty, and perceptive, while the restless beauty of the organ hall, the formal dinners, and the family's guarded conversations hint at trouble beneath the luxury. Rosemary Vincent, meanwhile, is caught between her devotion to her uncle and her love for Bryce Collins, and her hopes darken further when she learns a shattering truth: she is adopted, has no legal claim to Greatlarch, and must soon leave the only home she has ever known. As Rosemary faces the collapse of her identity and future, the mystery deepens around family loyalty, inheritance, and a dangerous secret buried at the heart of Greatlarch. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.