In the spring of 1821, the year of King George IV's coronation, two reluctant travellers set out on their separate journeys to Cornwall. The first to leave her home is Miss Susan Chalcombe, from a well-to-do family in Lyme Regis, who has been persuaded, or perhaps ordered, by her father and stepmother to travel to her great-aunt's house on the Tamar estuary for an indeterminate length of time. Susan suspects her stepmother of harbouring the hope that the stay will be permanent... moreIn the spring of 1821, the year of King George IV's coronation, two reluctant travellers set out on their separate journeys to Cornwall. The first to leave her home is Miss Susan Chalcombe, from a well-to-do family in Lyme Regis, who has been persuaded, or perhaps ordered, by her father and stepmother to travel to her great-aunt's house on the Tamar estuary for an indeterminate length of time. Susan suspects her stepmother of harbouring the hope that the stay will be permanent.The other traveller is Lord George Marshall, brother of an Earl who resides mainly in Sussex. George cannot quite understand how he has come to be the only member of his extended family who is at leisure to undertake the journey, but after initial protests he has agreed to review the state of things at his uncle's property, aptly named Goose Chase.Following an awkward encounter involving an unwieldy curricle, a loose horse and a child falling into the creek, the two exiles form an alliance against both Fate and the more tangible threats they encounter during their Cornish adventure.This is the story of a younger son who is forced to take responsibility for perhaps the first time in his life, and of a daughter who believes she has been cast adrift to find her own way in the world. Elements of history, adventure and romance are woven into the story. less