The Nazi Party have a firm hold of 1930s Germany and when wilful Henrietta Arabella, the youthful Duchess of Loxley, is sent on a tour of Europe by her formidable grandmother Katherine, it is to remove her from the temptation of an unsuitable love affair with the grandson of the estate's chauffeur. But the removal of one temptation only serves to spark another and, craving adventure, and for once escaping her companion, Hettie finds herself alone and lost in an insalubrious area of Venice. An incredible chain of events begins against the backdrop of the waterways and winding streets of Italy: Hettie will become embroiled in the theft of secret war office papers, a German Count and a fantastical tale of a Saxon king and queen before she finds the anchor she seeks, her heritage and her history.