Duke''s Company actress Kitty Burgess has a stunning future before her - until she vanishes after the opening performance of Aminta Grey''s new play, The Summer Birdcage. One of her fellow actors swears he saw her being bundled into a black coach driven by six black horses outside the theatre. Then no more is heard of her - until the body of a young woman is found dead beside the road in Hertfordshire. It appears to be Kitty, so Aminta and her husband Sir John Grey, travel to Bishop''s Stortford to identify her. The girl has been so badly beaten it is impossible to tell who she is, but there are three clues - the dress she is wearing, a ring and a copy of the script of Aminta''s play, left (perhaps a little too conveniently) in the victim''s hands.
Back in London Aminta catches sight of a young woman who looks exactly like Kitty but before she can do anything, the woman runs off and is lost in the crowd. Meanwhile, rumours abound at court that Kitty was about to
