The fortune-hunters, and other stories

In sunlit Venice, Mrs. Wylde is enjoying an idle afternoon when an old friend unexpectedly appears—and brings news of an acquaintance who may soon join her. At Florian’s Café, Lena draws the shy Rosamund Slade into her lively circle, inviting her to escape a stifling family party for an afternoon at the Lido. But beneath the easy conversation, birthdays, travels, and holiday pleasures lie questions of affection, money, and social ambition.

This collection of stories moves between elegant drawing rooms, foreign cities, country houses, and more mysterious landscapes. Its characters include charming adventurers, restless young women, devoted friends, worldly observers, and people whose hopes are shaped by inheritance, reputation, or the search for a better life. With a keen eye for manners and the hidden motives behind polite exchanges, these tales explore romance, loyalty, superstition, and the unsettling influence of other people’s desires. Each story offers a distinct atmosphere, from quietly comic social encounters to suspenseful situations touched by danger and the unknown.