Description

In a bustling London townhouse of the late eighteenth century, young Anne‑Hilarion de Flavigny awakens to a world stitched together from French elegance, Scottish folklore, and the stern Calvinist tone of his caretaker, Elspeth Saunders. As bedtime verses drift from Elspeth’s knitting needles, the boy’s imagination conjures distant seas, forlorn sailors, and the haunting echo of Thomas the Rhymer, hinting at a longing for lands beyond the fog‑veiled streets of Cavendish Square. The house itself is a quiet battlefield of faith and culture—a hidden Virgin’s statue, a pile of forbidden French fairy‑tales, and the lingering scent of his mother’s Scottish roots—all of which shape the boy’s restless curiosity.

Soon, the promise of a journey begins to surface, spurred by memories of his father’s French connections and the lingering romance that once bound two very different families. As the shadow of his attendant slips across the wall, Anne‑Hilarion senses that the ordinary confines of his room may soon give way to a wider, more perilous road—one that could carry him back to the lands whispered about in lullabies and to a destiny that lies far beyond the safety of his familiar curtains.