BOOK THREE - BENDIGO, 1883. Charity White is the under-cook at Colehill, a grand house on the outskirts of Sandhurst. When her friend, Mercy Smith, leaves Colehill to open a tea-house, Charity expects to become the new cook. Usurped by the violent, drunken housekeeper's cousin, she escapes to a hidden garden and into the arms of Charles French, the gardener's son. As her lover deserts her and her friend dies, she flees Sandhurst, pregnant and broken hearted, and totally unprepared for the shocking, life-changing events that soon follow. THE FIVE VIRTUES ANTHOLOGY is the story of five orphaned girls, all former inmates of the Verwood House Orphanage in Melbourne. When another inmate is drowned, all five stand accused of murder, and they flee for their lives. Over a decade later, each girl is now a young woman, but each finds herself with yet another battle to fight, and with her survival again in jeopardy.