Beatrice Chapter 31 - The Duchess's Ball

In which Geoffrey Bingham returns to London burdened by grief and learns of both a potential inheritance and an offer of political office, while his sick daughter suffers a perilous mishap at home. The contrasting fates of the characters unfold with poignant finality, as life’s capricious fortunes and sorrows entwine amid the glittering gaiety of a duchess’s ball.