Wealthy widow Sylvia Bailey is idling around Europe when she befriends another widow, Madame Wolsky, who is a gambling addict. As they are spending their last days together in Paris, two friends decide to go to a fortune teller, but the visit leaves them anxious. However, despite a psychic's warning that they will find themselves in a grave danger from which at least one of them will not escape, Sylvia and Madame Wolsky decide to go to the gambling town of Lacville in order to test their fortune.

Marie Lowndes Belloc (1868-1947) was a prolific English novelist, and sister of author Hilaire Belloc. Active from 1898 until her death, she had a literary reputation for combining exciting incidents with psychological interest. Lowndes Belloc produced mainly mysteries, well-plotted and on occasion based on real-life crime, though she herself resented being classed as a crime writer. Her best known work is The Lodger, a haunting mystery tale that revolves around the Jack the Ripper murders.