This story takes place, as did the Hansom Cab Mystery, in Australia. Different characters, different era, but much of the story is set in Melbourne and even in the same house as the previous story. Madame Midas -- that is what they call Mrs. Villiers, living in the Australian mining town of Ballarat. She once possessed enormous wealth, built up over the years by her loving father -- and then learned the least pleasant of lessons, marrying an Englishman whose true colors were soon unfurled at every nearby gambling and drinking establishment.
