A Crown of Shame by Florence Marryat

A Crown of Shame opens in the charged aftermath of a wedding that should secure power, yet instead exposes old wounds and hidden betrayals. On the plantation of Beauregard, Rosa's envy and vanity make her vulnerable to Judy's deceit, and a newborn child is quietly carried away into a secret plan involving Henri de Courcelles. Meanwhile, Maraquita's lavish marriage to Governor Sir Russell Johnstone dazzles the island's elite even as Henri's sudden appearance with an infant at the church steps sends her into a faint, proving that scandal and memory cannot be buried by splendor. Around these events, Captain Hugh Norris grows closer to Lizzie Fellows, whose courage, intelligence, and self-sacrifice draw him deeply while she hides a painful past and the truth of her identity. As unrest among the laborers threatens rebellion, Hugh urges her to protect herself, but Lizzie refuses to abandon those who need her. Maraquita, now Lady Johnstone, discovers that wealth and title cannot quiet her longing for Henri, and her private misery sharpens the novel's tension between ambition, duty, forbidden love, and the price of shame. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.