Pisistratus Caxton returns home to a house shaken by disaster, where his mother's fear, his father's brave humor, and Mr. Squills's comic medical theories barely conceal the threat of financial ruin. As the family's possessions are inventoried and even their beloved books are treated as assets, the Caxtons cling to affection, dignity, and intellectual banter while the truth emerges: Uncle Jack Tibbets has dragged Augustine Caxton into a reckless publishing speculation, first the Literary Times and then the more ambitious Capitalist, leaving him legally responsible for crushing debts when investors vanish and printers demand payment. Though stunned, Augustine's first instinct is to help Jack, even after Jack lands in prison, but Squills and the family intervene to keep him from rushing to London and ruining himself further. Pisistratus, sent to seek help, finds Trevanion absent in Paris and turns to Sir Sedley Beaudesert, who introduces him to Lord Castleton, a coldly disciplined young marquis and heir to vast power. Over breakfast, Castleton's austere courtesy and serious talk of property, politics, and reform reveal both his privilege and his gravity. The final blow comes when Pisistratus learns Castleton is to marry Fanny Trevanion, forcing him to confront family loss, social ambition, and the fragile ties between love, duty, and money. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
