the age of fancifulness at 31, he becomes enmeshed into the mystery and the responsibility of protecting Ludovic Lavenham from arrest. His is the voice of reason that controls Eustacie, Ludovic and Sarah Thane's high flights of fancy and absurd plans, but he is by no means a stultifying influence, being as keen as anyone to clear Ludovic's name following the discovery that he does not have the talisman ring on him (therefore, he cannot be the murderer of Plunkett) Miss Sarah Thane – Sister to Sir Hugh Thane. One of Heyer's more striking early heroines, Sarah Thane is an enchantingly perverse and very humorous lady of twenty-eight, who scandalises her relations by accompanying her brother everywhere he goes, and in recent years, leaving her chaperone behind. A very candid woman, who would probably remain unsurprised by anything life threw at her, she is quite capable of looking after herself, and blends an incredibly romantic imagination with common good sense and charming sensibility. When Eustacie de Vauban brings the wounded Ludovic Lavenham to the Red Lion, Sarah Thane is only too delighted to take part in this exciting adventure coming her way. Well aware of her short-comings, with a very skilled talent for acting as if she were perfectly silly, she makes a perfect foil to Sir Tristram from the very moment they are brought together. Despite being, in her words, "a creature of no importance at all", she is, on the contrary a very important character and the forerunner of Heyer's later heroines Abigail Wendover (Black Sheep) and Hester Theale (Sprig Muslin). Mademoiselle Eustacie de Vauban – Granddaughter to Sylvester, Lord Lavenham, cousin to Sir Tristram Shield and Basil and Ludovic Lavenham. Comparisons to Léonie de Saint Vire of These Old Shades spring to mind instantly, although other than their French descent, youth and a similar volatility, there is very little in common between Léonie and Eustacie. Eustacie, the dark-haired, beautiful heroine is more romantically minded and less bloodthirsty. Disgusted by the idea of being married to the unromantic Sir Tristram Shield, she runs away and falls into the hands of Ludovic Lavenham, the wicked cousin who has much intrigued and fascinated her. Her appetite for adventure is satisfied in the excitement of keeping him out of the hands of the Bow Street Runners and Excisemen, and of helping to prove his innocence. Perhaps closest in character to Amanda