8March, 1815. The Bourbon King Louis XVIII has been restored to the throne of France, Napoleon is in exile on the isle of Elba, and Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his wife, Hero, have traveled to Paris in hopes of tracing his long-lost mother, Sophie, the errant Countess of Hendon. But his search ends in tragedy when he comes upon the dying Countess in the wasteland at the tip of the ÃŽle de la CitÃ(c). Stabbed -- apparently with a stiletto -- and thrown from the bastions of the island's ancient stone bridge, Sophie dies without naming her murderer.