Volume I, Chapters I - III Summary

I - Lucy

Mary Elizabeth Braddon writes a story of intrigue, deceit, bigamy, and abandonment in Lady Audley's Secret. Lady Audley is not who she claims to be. Originally she was Helen Maldon, daughter of a perpetually drunken sea-captain and an insane mother. Seeking to better her position in life, she marries George Talboys, a young gentleman of means. What she never expected was for George to be disinherited by his father because he married Helen. George is confident they can make a life together, but with his father-in-law drinking all his income, and the addition of a baby boy, Georgie, life becomes very difficult for Helen and George Talboys. George leaves Helen and heads to Australia to seek his fortune in the gold fields there. It takes him three years to achieve...