husband is her dear Myrtano. Their happiness is marred by the jealousy of his wife, who first tries to poison everyone and then appeals to the Pope to separate them. Idalia is taken to Rome first to a convent, where she leads a miserable life, persecuted by all the young gallants of the city. Then one day she sees Florez, the first cause of her misfortunes. With thoughts of revenge, she sends him a billet, but Myrtano keeps the appointment instead of Florez. Not recognising her lover, muffled in a cloak, Idalia stabs him, but upon recognising him is overcome by remorse, and dies by the same knife. Fantomina; or Love in a Maze (1724) is a novella about a woman who assumes the roles of prostitute, handmaid, widow and lady, to seduce repeatedly a man named Beauplaisir. Schofield points out: "Not only does she satisfy her own sexual inclinations, she smugly believes that 'while he thinks to fool me, [he] is himself the only beguiled Person'" (p. 50). The story asserts that women have some access to social force – a recurring theme in Haywood's work. It has been argued that it owes a debt to the interpolated tale of an "Invisible Mistress" in Paul Scarron's Roman Comique. The Mercenary Lover; or, The Unfortunate Heiresses (1726) examines the risks women face in giving way to passion. Miranda, the eldest of two heiress sisters, marries Clitander, the mercenary lover of the title. Unsatisfied with Miranda's half of the estate, Clitander seduces Althea, the younger sister, by plying her with romantic books and notions. She gives way to "ungovernable passion" and becomes pregnant. Clitander fools her into signing over her inheritance, then poisons her, killing both her and the unborn child. The Distress'd Orphan; or Love in a Madhouse (1726) is a novella that relates the plight of a woman falsely imprisoned in a private madhouse. In Patrick Spedding's A Bibliography of Eliza Haywood, he notes that The Distress'd Orphan; or Love in a Madhouse was more "enduringly popular", "reprinted more often, in larger editions, and remained in print for a longer period, than... Love in Excess" (p. 21). It recounts the story of Annilia, who is an orphan and heiress. Her uncle and guardian Giraldo plans to gain access to her fortune by having her marry his son, Horatio. When Annilia meets Colonel Marathon at a dance and they fall