Lucie has determined never to marry despite her grandmother's future plans. But the sudden death of her guardian precipitates a crisis, and Lucie is forced to choose. Richard seems the lesser of two evils, and he has promised an annulment - a tempting solution to a dangerous dilemma that will allow her to escape a menacing courtship by a man she loathes. But can she trust a stranger she has only just met? Or will she find herself trapped in an equally perilous marriage? This is a tale of two very different houses, the people who lived within them, and the love and hatred that held them captive.