First published in 1988.

Sheltered stuffy heiress Jane Sandiford is confused and mortified by her responses to debonair Lord Wraybourne, suspected fortune hunter. The dread Whisperer, scourge of polite Society, rasps unspeakable vileness into her ear, someone assaults young women "of the middling class" in the streets of London, and one close conspires to break up her romance.