Blanche wed Lieutenant Colonel Seymour in search of a hero to replace the French military father she never knew, only to find herself stranded in Northumberland, in a penniless marriage, with no recourse.
Blanche's cousin, Neil Williams, now a decorated Major, returns from the colonies to rejoin the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers. Her husband, as Neil's superior officer, makes Neil's life intolerable, as well as her own. Blanche learns that the truly courageous are defined by their actions and that Seymour is not one of them, for what he does to Neil defies imagination.