Adrian Messenger, a famous writer, asks his friend Anthony Gethryn, a former British agent, to help him investigate the whereabouts of the people who appear on a list, without asking him the reason why he should do so.
The Beaufort hunt meets in Chipping Sodbury before riding out in pursuit of their quarry.
The start of the fox hunting season with the Cattistock Hunt in Maiden Newton, Dorset.
While visiting her friend, Barbara Carlton, Frances Mildmay spends the day fox-hunting and ends up fogbound in the 'Devil's Maze' with Barbara's husband, James. When the pair lodge overnight at an inn, the innkeeper convinces James to seduce Frances. Unbeknownst to them, another family friend, Derek Riffington, is also staying at the inn and becomes aware of the liaison. But, by the time James discovers Frances is pregnant, Derek has gone missing in the Far East - leading James to suggest that, when the child is born, she should accuse Derek of having been the father.
