When widowed architect Andrew Lord discovers an antique gold locket abandoned in the rose garden on the old Vernon estate, he gives it to Julia Gaffney, the woman he has recently fallen in love with. The locket is engraved with a line of Julia's favorite poetry plus a date in 1928. Julia's lovely gift soon turns into an obsession, when she begins to dream of the locket's original owner, Celeste Vernon. Determined to learn more about Celeste, Julia researches the Vernon family history during the 1920s and uncovers disturbing facts. Celeste disappeared shortly after Edwin, her husband, died suddenly. What really happened? Were Edwin and Celeste murdered? Why was her locket left in the rose garden? And who was the mysterious and beautiful young woman who lived at Vernon House as companion to Edwin's dour sister Carolina? A story of romance and mystery, and three very different couples living decades apart, all of them connected to a golden wedding locket and deep loves lost and found again - but for one couple, lost forever.