Born into a happy family that is tragically ravaged by smallpox, Miss Priscilla Butterworth uses her wits to survive a series of outlandish trials. Cruelly separated from her beloved mother and grandmother, the young girl is sent to live with a callous aunt who forces her to work for her keep. Eventually, the clever and tenderhearted Miss Butterworth makes her escape… a daring journey into the unknown that unexpectedly leads her to the “mad” baron and a lifetime of love.

Bridgerton fans will remember Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, the gloriously over-the-top gothic novel that first appeared in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book It’s in His Kiss before making a riotous reappearance in What Happens in London. (Who can forget Sebastian Grey’s dramatic recitation, complete with an audience of three housemaids, a butler, and a Russian prince?) JQ had so much fun with this book-within-a-book that she brought it back in a big way in Ten Things I Love About You (can’t say more; spoiler territory) and then again in three of the Smythe-Smith Quartet novels.

This is the book that introduced Miss Butterworth, the baron, and all those pigeons. So what’s that story? And how exactly is Lady Danbury involved?