Lord Graelam de Moreton is a warrior, a man both hard and ruthless, a man who takes what he wants and never looks back.

Kassia de Lorris of Brittany is gentle and yielding, untested in the ways of men. She cheats death only to find herself wedded to a stranger.

When the two meet as husband and wife at Graelam's castle of Wolfften in Cornwall, Kassia is prepared to give obeisance to this man her father chose for her, and Graelam is ready to accept her as she appears -- a lady as innocent and guileless as rainwater flowing through his fingers.

Then he comes to believe her a betrayer, and Kassia must prove her mettle.