"Of all Miss Bianca's adventures in the interests of prisoner-rescuing—in the Orient, in the Antarctic, in salt mines or in the Black Castle—this was to be the most frightening of all, because it happened at home..."
So warns Margery Sharp in the beginning of Miss Bianca and the Bridesmaid, and her words prove true indeed.
Miss Bianca, former Madam President of the Mouse Prisoners' Aid Society, and her stalwart mouse companion, Bernard, are living a life of peace and contentment in the Ambassador's house when a dreadful event occurs. The Ambassadress's niece decides to get married—which is not at all dreadful—but the night before the wedding, the bridesmaid, six-year-old Susan, disappears!
The building is turned upside down in an effort to find her, but to no avail. With sinking hearts, Bernard and Miss Bianca scurry around Susan's room, trying to find a clue to her whereabouts, and what they find sends a chill through their hearts. Susan has been put under a spell! A doll has a hold on her, an evil, ugly doll mistreated for so many years that it has sworn to take revenge on the first little girl it sees—and that girl is Susan.
Valiantly, the mice set out to find Susan and the doll, relentlessly exposing themselves to perils ranging from booby traps of bricks and axes to a choking avalanche of plaster. Through all this they persevere, and finally, with resourcefulness, cunning, and the unexpected help of a guttersnipe glowworm and a seraphic choir of stone angels, Miss Bianca and Bernard triumph—but only in the nick of time.
Writing with charm and ingenuity, Margery Sharp makes this seventh adventure of the intrepid Miss Bianca a thoroughly exciting one. Illustrated in Erik Blegvad's droll style, Miss Bianca and the Bridesmaid makes a sparkling addition to the annals of the gallant mouse's glorious career.
—from the dust jacket
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