A young woman narrates a personal history of travel and society life in Europe that shifts from flirtation and confidences into a baffling mystery. Encounters with wealthy acquaintances, a millionaire’s hidden past, enigmatic symbols and an owl motif set a chain of puzzling incidents in motion, including coded messages and a tense voyage aboard the Vispera. The narrator gathers clues, deciphers a cipher, and pieces together events until the underlying secret is disclosed. Themes of secrecy, social artifice, and the consequences of private choices run through the account.