Heartbreak, class tension, and fate collide in this sweeping romantic drama, where a single night at sea can shatter lives and a ballroom can conceal years of longing. Alison Cheyne, isolated aboard the yacht Firefly and haunted by her separation from Bevil Goring, finds uneasy sympathy in Captain Tom Llanyard, a rough but kind-hearted seaman whose scarred past hints at violence, piracy, and survival. As Tom tells his grim tale, the Firefly veers toward disaster and slams into the Black Hound of Ostend, a collision that plunges the voyage into panic and apparent ruin. Yet the novel also moves through glittering social worlds, where Bella Chevenix and Jerry Wilmot are drawn into a painful romance shaped by pride, debt, and class difference. Beneath the elegance of Wilmothurst, affection is tested by misunderstanding and restraint. Meanwhile, Dalton's buried history erupts in astonishing fashion when his long-lost wife, Laura Dorillion, reveals herself. Their reunion is joyous but shadowed by his imminent departure for Ashanti, while Bevil, desperate for news of Alison, is devastated by reports that the Firefly may have sunk with her aboard. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.