Julian Silvester is happily betrothed to Miss Jane Leavitt, and time passes slowly in London as he waits for the lady's father to allow them to set a date. He becomes interested in the matter of a less fortunate young lady, Miss Hannah Andersen, whose soldier father is thought to have killed himself in South Africa. This, combined with her sad lack of funds, makes her less than respectable in the eyes of the Ton.

THE SCANDAL IN HONOR is second in the entertaining Lord Trevelin Mystery series. I had not read the first but our hero, only son of a marquis, is an interesting character. He is not allowed to go to war -- this is 1814 -- but follows international affairs with interest. He bears a dueling scar from a previous adventure, and after meeting the impecunious Miss Andersen, offers to pay, quite privately, for the clothing she needs about town. They have to keep this arrangement secret in case the gossips wonder what is going on between them. Miss Andersen's protective mother dies shortly after they attend a lively ball, and the young orphan whispers that she believes murder was involved.

Lady Marlowe, in whose town house the Andersens stayed, is convinced that Hannah is inventing stories to keep the marquis's son in attendance on her, despite the fact that he is engaged. The young lady says that her mother was not in good health, and Dr. Nuttall may have poisoned her. Other possibilities arise, but why would anyone have wanted Mrs. Andersen dead? Julian asks a few questions of the staff, but he can't make head nor tail of it.

Other characters include Jack, the young valet who is a staunch friend to Julian and accompanies him on adventures. A mature lady Mrs. Smurthwaite is similar to Mrs. Malaprop, injecting humor into conversations unintentionally as she mixes up words and pronunciations. As for Jane Leavitt, we mainly see her shopping for wedding dresses, but at this time young women were not allowed to do very much, nor to hold strong opinions. Their lessons concerned proper conduct and deportment. This whole story is a drama of manners, emotions, and responsibilities.

The tale will continue with THE MURDER IN MIRTH set around a Christmas country house party. These are unusual mysteries in the Napoleonic era setting, and not as romantic as we might first imagine. Heidi Ashworth also writes Regency romances, so anyone who enjoys those stories will want to try THE SCANDAL IN HONOR.