Outwardly a grieving young Victorian widow, Charlotte Richmond is concealing some scandalous secrets when she arrives at Finchbourne Manor to start a respectable new life with her husband's family.The wealthy Richmonds must never discover that her husband Frampton's recent death in the Indian Mutiny came as a great relief to Charlotte. Nor must they hear about the rumours circulating in the army regarding both his scandalous behaviour and money missing from the officers' mess. His death has also been the subject of speculation and Charlotte must take care not to spill any secrets. Above all she must make certain that nobody in her new life hears of her own adventurous upbringing in Australia, knowing that any whisper about her past would cause her to be sent packing.When the past catches up with Charlotte, and a murder is committed, she begins to fear for her own life.