«Lady Athlyne»
 is a romance novel by Bram Stoker, written in 1908. It was published one year before the release of Stoker's The Lady of the Shroud. This novel was published while many different elements were occurring in the United Kingdom. England was preparing to host the Olympic Games in London.

Plot

• Chapters 1-3: The novel begins on a journey from New York to Italy. Joy and her Aunt Judith meet Mrs. O’Brian who claims to have fostered Earl Athlyne. Since Mrs. O’Brien describes the Earl Athlyne's son in such great detail all of the women, including Joy, begin to develop an interest in a man they had never met or heard of until that moment. Her Aunt Judy even calls her Lady Athlyne. The mysterious woman warns them that by linking her name to his that they have sealed her fate and Aunt Judy believes that there is truth to this statement. At first, the women are careful not to tell anyone about their joke or their (secret) but it is used in front of Joy's father by mistake. He warns her that by linking her name to a man she does not know can harm her in the future.
• Chapters 4-6: The news that there is a young woman using Lord Athlyne's name arrives to him while he is held as a military prisoner. One of guards was bribed by one of Lord Athlyne's friends on the outside to bring the news to Lord Athlyne. This upset Lord Athlyne greatly due to the fact that it will inhibit him in the future from making a decent match and being able to find a wife who will help him with his estate. He vows to himself that he will find this woman and he will not use his name in order to avoid upsetting her when they first meet. He eventually journeys to New York under a false alias, Mr. Richard Hardy, in order to deter Joy from continuing to link her name to his even as a simply joke in case it impedes him from marrying in the future.
• Chapter 7-11: While minding his own business by touring through New York, Lord Athlyne spots a woman on a runaway mare through the city streets of New York. He eventually ends up saving the young woman who it turns out, is Joy. Soon after, Colonel Ogilvie is on the scene to make sure that his daughter is not hurt. He thanks the man that saved her. The colonel then asks the name of this handsome and masculine stranger to which he replies, "Richard Hardy" (110). Since Lord Athlyne still had not found the woman he is searching for to stop her from using his name; he did not want to use his actual name and scare her from the continuation to link her name to his. While he likes the colonel from the start and feels guilty for having to conceal his true identity, he very much wishes to protect his character for the time being. However, he is then invited to dinner with her family in order for them to display their gratitude.
• Chapters 11-15: Joy's father, Colonel Ogilvie, spends most of dinner interrogating Mr. Hardy/Lord Athlyne. He asks about the clubs he belongs to, who his people are, if he is well travelled, and where his home is. Richard Hardy dodges each question and, in turn, arises the suspensions of the colonel during dinner. The colonel believes that this man might have saved his daughter's life, but he is not fit to associate with her. Meanwhile, Joy's aunt and mother are noticing the looks that Richard Hardy and Joy are giving one another. They appear to be interested in one another. While Joy's mother does not want to ignore her husband's wishes, her sister Miss Hayes, decides that she is going to find a way to help these young people come together.
• Chapter 16-20: Richard Hardy says that he must leave in order to attend to some business at home. Since he did not find the woman that he was searching for he has decided to give up the search. He is going to miss Joy and leaves his address at a hotel in Ireland for them to send him letters. It turns out this is very fortuitous. Since Joy and her father have chosen to go abroad again, this time without Miss Judith/Miss Hayes, she is able to send Lord Athlyne letters pertaining to Joy's whereabouts. These letters allow Lord Athlyne to track down joy and while her father is out visiting some friends, Joy decided to go on a motorcar ride, unchaperoned, with Richard Hardy/Lord Athlyne. This is where Joy is intentionally deceiving her father and leaves a note in an attempt to make amends by letting him know that she has gone out with a friend for a ride. She does not specify which friend though for fear of angering her father and getting Mr. Hardy/Lord Athlyne into trouble.
• Chapters 21-33: Joy spends too long with Richard Hardy/ Lord Athlyne because they were having a lovely picnic in the grass where he proposed to Joy and she accepted. It is after this that Joy realizes she is late to return to her hotel by the time her mother and aunt are meeting supposed to be meeting Joy and her father. So Athlyne decides to speed back into town, is pulled over, and is placed in jail for the night for going excessively above the speed limit. Meanwhile, Joy takes the car in an attempt to possibly make it on time to her family reunion. Unfortunately for her, she ends up lost because of a fog and is about 100 miles outside of town. She stops at a nearby place to request lodging for the night. When the woman asks for her name Joy replies, "Lady Athlyne" because she does not wish to use her real name and instead chooses her old nickname. The woman recognizing that surname at once gives Joy some of the nicer rooms in her house. Soon, a strange man came and knocked on the same woman's door. He too requested lodgings and did not want to woman to make a fuss over him. When she asked his name, the man replied, "Richard Hardy". Since Joy had gone missing for a night and had only left a note saying she was going out motorcaring with a friend her family was very concerned. Her father then hires a driver, car, and pilot to help him go and retrieve his daughter since her car/Athlyne's car had broken down. Her father finds them both canoodling together and then a discussion about his daughter's honor begins. Soon enough Lord Athlyne reveals his true identity and explains his Scottish roots. They eventually arrive at the conclusion that because of a Scottish rule of an "irregular" marriage where if both parties consent then they are married even if they do not have a document. After much debate, they decided to formally marry on a piece of paper in order to avoid possible legal complications. Joy then truly becomes Lady Athlyne.