Three years ago the enigmatic Alexander von Reisden proposed to the young and very lovely Perdita Halley on a train between Boston and New York. Though she initially accepted, Perdita later declined, fearing that marriage would compromise her dream of becoming a concert pianist. Now Perdita has come to study at the famous Conservatoire in Paris, the endlessly romantic city where Reisden heads an institute that specializes in diagnosis of the insane. Little suspecting the depths of each other's desires, and defying social convention, Perdita and Alexander plunge into an erotic, all consuming affair that seems destined for tragedy. For Perdita cannot marry and attend the Conservatoire, and Alexander remains haunted by guilt and a dark secret from the past. Then an American acquaintance of the two arrives, turning mere gossip into grand scandal.As incessant rain dims the city of light, an intricate network of plots and counterplots swirls around the couple. And a deliciously elegant game of art and life turns deadly serious as a madman stalks first Alexander and then Perdita, threatening to destroy them both in retribution for a murder they know nothing about - or do they? Read Less