[Gutenberg 17063] • A Lost Leader

Mannering is content with his country life in England. His life is one of leisure and study and his health is robust. His teenaged niece Clara lives with him and a beautiful widow, Berenice, is spending some vacation time nearby.

But Borrowdean knows Mannering is needed in London to help save the faltering Liberal party with his talent for oratory and politics. No matter what it takes, Mannering must be awakened to what his country needs, and Borrowdean won't stoop to consider scruples. He isn't above using Blanche, the only woman who holds the key to Mannering's greatest secret, as a lever for his ends.