The dinner party was over as Caroline staggered halfway up the stairs. Dropped her wineglass when she leaned on the stair rail, "Etienne." she said, "Are you going out tonight or shall I wait up for my nightly bang?" There was a stunned silence, then the guests shrugged into their wraps and cloaks as they hurried to leave. --Dangerous Compulsion is the story of four generations of the Deveraux family that encompassed the years between the Civil War and 1977. The story was told from a different perspective.