The Claimant: Douglas Skeggs

With the Russian tanks advancing into Hungary in 1945, Count Karoly Kasinczy-Landsberg is forced to abandon Fetevis, the majestic palace that has been his family's home for the past 500 years. Now after half a century of communist neglect, the new regime wants to be rid of the ruined building. But who is the rightful heir? Zoltan, a multi-millionaire and the last living person to have known Fetevis in its glory, has returned from America, confident the estate belongs to him, only to find it has been given to Terezia, the beautiful impoverished girl who claims to be the only child of Count Karoly. Zoltan is certain he can destroy the proof of her identity but he reckons without Terezia's tempestuous determination or the intervention of Max Anderson, the diplomat whose search for a missing lecturer inadvertently hands him the key that will unlock the dark secrets of the past.