Sent north from the war-ravaged battlefields of Virginia to learn photography under the tutelage of Matthew Brady in New York City, Ruth Danson encounters new dangers more lethal than any she has ever imagined. Torn between her heart's desire to return to the cavalry of Mosby's Rangers and the man she loves, Private William Jay Lytell, and a newer and perhaps more compelling lure found in the green eyes of the handsome, ever charming, and always sinister businessman, R.J. Flaherty, Li'l Bud must decide before forces she cannot control overwhelm her . A guest in the house of the famed actor, Edwin Booth, Ruth is captivated by the glitter of the city with its theaters and elegant restaurants and the growing presence of Flaherty, a man who will go to any length to get what he wants.
Evading Pinkerton's detectives who shadow her believing she is a spy for the Confederacy; protected by a man employed as an agent by the Confederacy; Li'l Bud finds herself more and more drawn back to what she believes might be safer ground than the suffocating world of the big city, the blood-soaked landscape of Virginia.
It's the winter of 1865 and Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee are preparing for what both know will be the final battle when spring arrives. William Jay has left Mosby and now rides with the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, craving as much action as he can find to keep his heart from the ache of missing his Li'l Bud. Will Ruth remain in New York ensnared by the alluring world of R.J. or will she ride south where a pair of Colt .44s, a chestnut filly she calls Princess, and the arms of William Jay await her?