A Butterfly on the Wheel: A Novel

In the hushed elegance of Paris’s Hôtel des Tuileries, a late‑night gathering of English expatriates sets the stage for a tense drama. Colonel Adams, a distinguished officer, and his companion Henry Passhe, a sharp‑witted secretary, find themselves caught up in whispered conversations about a mysterious Mrs. Admaston and a notorious lawyer, Roderick Collingwood, who have also checked in. Their casual drinks and pipe smoke mask the undercurrent of secrets that threaten to upend their respectable lives.

As the night deepens, the hotel’s quiet corridors become a crucible where personal loyalties, political ambitions, and hidden sins collide. The characters—ranging from a charismatic judge to a determined detective—navigate a web of accusations and betrayals that hint at a scandal poised to spill into the public arena. Listeners will be drawn into the suspenseful first act, where every revelation raises the stakes for the players on this glittering yet precarious stage.