Once, Abrielle's name was on the lips of every unwed nobleman in London as a proud exceptional lady coveted for her bearing, her breeding, her wit, and her beauty. But when her stepfather-respected for his courage and valor during the Crusades-is denied his rightful title and the wealth that accompanies it, Abrielle finds herself suddenly disgraced, no longer a suitable match for any proper gentleman. To keep her father from debtor's prison Abrielle...

Winter, 1211. King John's reign is harsh, and his tax collectors wring money from people near to starvation. Homeless, desperate men are reduced to walking the streets, begging for handouts, and the nuns at Hawkenlye Abbey, now under John's iron rule, are all but powerless to help. Former abbess Helewise decides to move back to her cell near the abbey, to better help the needy, putting a strain on her tentative relationship with Sir Josse D'Acquin....

All Saint's Eve, 1211. An overweight but wealthy nobleman, desperate for an heir, dies at the celebration feast he's thrown in his own hall. Is it a natural death, or at the hands of his reluctant new wife? Sabin de Gifford, an apothecary and healer of note, is called to examine the body, and concludes that he died of a spasm to the heart. But she is troubled, all the same, and beset by suspicions. Did the man really die of a heart attack? Or...