Eileen Leighton is the true heiress of the Leighton estate at Sea Cliff, yet her stepmother Rowena and the impostor Vera stole her mother’s White Star necklace and falsely accused her of being a mad, arsonist, and parricidal daughter of low birth. On the day of the engagement party, Vera wore the necklace that rightfully belonged to Eileen and stole Duke Lucien Ashford’s hand in marriage; she then deliberately cut her arm and tore her sleeve, falsely accusing Eileen of pushing her to the edge of the cliff. Everyone expected Eileen to fall and confess her guilt, but she managed to grab hold of a rock carving at the cliff’s edge and discovered the first clue her mother had left behind: the true heir must return from Sea Cliff.
