Includes: Miss or Mrs? 'Blow up with the Brig!' The Fatal Cradle Natalie Graybrooke is the only and much-loved daughter of Sir Joseph Graybrooke, a wealthy industrialist. Advised to take her on a sea voyage to restore her health, he turns to his old friend Richard Turlington, a trader of the Levant, who immediately places his schooner at Sir Joseph's disposal. Thus it is that the warm and beautiful Natalie, on the brink of womanhood, finds herself regarded by two men: Richard Turlington, to whom her dowry would be an important source of finance, and who seems to have a respectable trade and income; and Launcelot Linzie, her cousin, on board as surgeon, with whom she shares a mutual and strong attraction. As the ship makes for home, the tension between the two men heightens, and then Turlington finds that his business is facing financial collapse. 'Miss or Mrs?', the title story, is a typical tale of suspense by a master of the genre. The book is completed by two shorter sea stories, described by the author as being among his friend Charles Dickens' favourites.