By foul means

In a bustling Piccadilly restaurant, two old friends—Henry Addison and artist Frank Daneham—spot a striking woman at a neighboring table. Hermione Rodenberg, the South African magnate’s widow, sits with the stern Colonel Bessington and enigmatic Iza Marsh, her melancholy smile betraying hidden sorrow. Addison, captivated by her beauty, presses Frank for the story behind her unhappiness, and Frank warns that the truth is a dangerous secret that could land him in prison. Their conversation drifts to a promise of confidentiality before they retire to Frank’s Jermyn Street rooms.

There, Frank begins a tale that reaches back to 1917, to the northern coast of Ardenmore and a soldier named Dominic Arden. He recounts how Arden, a handsome but hot‑tempered recruit, fell in love with Hermione Craig, their marriage a brief beacon of hope amid poverty. Yet a mysterious crime, hinted at but not explained, casts a long shadow over their lives, and Frank’s reluctant confession hints at smuggling, betrayal, and a looming investigation. Listeners are drawn into a world where loyalty, love, and hidden sins intertwine, promising a suspenseful unraveling of past sins.