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We were enthralled last year with part one of this story, here is a brief recap.

One bright morning in 2000, I was rummaging through ‘rubbish’ that had been cleared from the roof eaves of a Georgian house in North Yorkshire . . .

My family and I had moved into the house and were renovating it. Mixed in amongst the debris, I came across a Victorian photograph. Then another, and another . . .I had stumbled on a treasure trove of old photographs, papers and letters that had been hidden in our house for many decades. It felt like an amazing stroke of luck. Perhaps even destiny.

As I worked through the material, I began realising that the letters held a secret. They were the door to a forgotten love story from the Victorian era.

All these wonderful things once belonged to a woman called Annie Bowen and the first letter I came across told me that Annie was in hot pursuit of a ‘vile woman’ who had run off with her husband. His name was Gus, a charming but unreliable cad, and the letter turned out to be the start of an astonishing journey.

Part two:

The plot thickens and I pursue the ‘vile woman’ across the globe. An unwelcome guest turns up at Annie’s wedding and a scandal looms. Gus suddenly disappears but we track him down and discover his unlikely fate.

Author: Tony Nicholson