Check and Mate

The noble Arden family is on the brink of ruin: the head of the family, Sir Reginald, is once again mortgaging the ancestral estate Mortlake Hall, while his son Richard is wasting the remnants of their fortune playing cards, so all hope rests on the young beauty-daughter Alice, whom relatives plan to marry off successfully. During this difficult time for the family, a wealthy gentleman, Walter Longclues, appears in London society, of whom no one knows anything about his past. Longclues quickly wins the favor of the Ardens: he pays off Richard’s gambling debts and is even willing to marry Alice. But what lies in Longclues's dark past, and are his intentions truly selfless? What connection does he have to the mysterious murder that occurred in the ancient Mortlake Hall castle twenty years ago?