Lucretia

Lucretia's return to William Mainwaring's household as a widowed woman seems, at first, like a reconciliation with the past. Warmly welcomed by Susan and William, she soon proves a far more dangerous presence, awakening William's political ambition, feeding his vanity, and making Susan's quiet domestic virtues seem weak beside her own forceful intellect. Drawn by Lucretia into speculation, profit-seeking, and worldly advancement, William slides toward ruin until a banking scandal, failed investments, and a vanished accomplice leave him disgraced and ruined. Lucretia completes her revenge by selling part of her inheritance to support the exiled couple, savoring the destruction of their home and honor. Yet triumph leaves her spiritually empty. Searching for meaning, she turns to a strict religious sect and then to Alfred Braddell, a fervent convert whose piety conceals greed and ambition. Their marriage becomes another prison of deception, bitterness, and control, especially after the birth of their child. As old alliances shift and secrets surface, Lucretia pursues a last chance to reclaim lost power, while Braddell, Ardworth, and a shadowy household inquiry add further layers of suspicion, inheritance, and concealed identity. The novel traces ambition, revenge, religious zeal, and the corrosive cost of pride. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.