Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery is in London to assist her cousin Alice, the widowed Duchess of Suffolk, in burying her husband-but the late Duke was so hated that even being in the presence of his corpse is unsafe.

Wandering player Simon Joliffe is also in London, on a mission with vital information for the exiled Duke of York: a list naming the English noblemen who purportedly betrayed their King by conspiring with the French, including some of Suffolk's men, whom Joliffe has been seeking-and now found dead.

Joining the player on his search for the men on the list, Frevisse starts to wonder whether or not the list is real-or part of an even greater conspiracy against the crown.