While Cromwell and the Royalists fight for power in the years around 1664, not only is England divided but so are cities and even families. Hope Levett is torn between her dread of becoming the mistress of a powerful man and her newly aroused passion for a French nobleman. Then she is kidnapped, and comes to believe that marriage to her love is impossible. But, in a surprising development, there is a glimmer of hope for her.