Araminta Jewell is one of the beauties of her day; a witty resourceful dazzling young lady who manages to resist all the blandishments that come her way. Even her marriage to the staid & ugly Sir Martin Culthorpe has not discouraged the rakes of London; for them she has assumed an almost iconic status. Before she wed a special club had been set up
- the Society for the Capture of Aramintas Maidenhood
- with the first man to bed her standing to win a sizeable wager. Though she is now a wife she is still pursued with unflagging zeal. It is during her first sitting for a portrait painted by the fashionable French artist Jean-Paul Villemot that the architect Christopher Redmayne meets the lovely Lady Culthorpe although he has heard much about her through his dissipated brother Henry one of her most ardent pursuers. Before the portrait can be finished & revealed however Sir Martin is murdered. Joining forces with Henry & his good friend the puritan Constable Jonathan Bale Christopher embarks on a quest to discover the killers identity. But with each new day bringing a fresh batch of suspects & the matter of whether Sir Martin was killed because of his shady business dealings or for the exquisite prize of his wife still unclear Christopher knows this will be far from an easy case to crack.