The time is the 16th century, and at the tender age of 22, Rosamund Bolton has been widowed three times and has three daughters. Lest her family marry her off a fourth time, she takes the girls and flees to her friend Meg, the Queen of Scotland. There she meets Patrick Leslie, a man in his 40s who sweeps her off her feet--and takes her away with him on a diplomatic mission to Italy. When they return, Rosamund wants marriage. Patrick agrees, but before they can manage to marry, England and Scotland go to war--and Rosamund must battle her enemies simply to stay alive.
