 The story is set between 1746 and 1748 and is retold by a Londoner, called Anthony Harman, from the account related in letters by an elderly friend.Not a ghost story but a notable mystery story, in 26 chapters, which includes the theme of premature burial.A naïve young Englishman in France attempts to save a beautiful and mysterious countess from her intolerable situation as the wife of the avaricious and sexagenarian count of St. Alyre; in the denouement it is discovered that the St. Alyres are murderous thieves who have lured the hero, Richard Beckett, into a devious trap.