The Rake's Progress

"The Rake's Progress" by Marjorie Bowen is a story about family and the cost of choices, especially following Lord Rose Lyndwood and his relatives as their lives become tangled by fate and scandal. Miss Susannah Chressham frets about her cousins, Rose and Marius, who are both plagued by financial troubles, which suggests an underlying drama about to unfold. The story opens with Susannah writing letters, filled with concerns about Rose's life in London, which is rumored to be wild and reckless. The relationships between the characters and hints of looming problems build a feeling of worry about what will happen when Marius comes back, and the characters are forced to contend with love, responsibility, and the repercussions of their actions.