This tale is set in 18th-century England and concludes in Italy against the magnificent and imposing backdrop of Castle Scaligero. The narrative covers twenty-three years of Cornelius's life: his abandonment as a child, his rescue and schooling by renowned alchemist Herimius Sneep and his further education by the prodigious Count Giovanni Amati. Cornelius experiences several life-changing events of sinister and auspicious dimensions, including the discovery and rescue of his mother, and a series of murders that have a devastating impact upon Cornelius's life.