Lady Alessandra, half Italian, has a fiery, passionate nature, tempered by her cool British half. After the death of her husband, she has fled Italy to escape dark rumours of her involvement with a radical group. She scales the heights of London's Polite Society, but with the arrival of Italian scholar Frederico Bellazoni, she knows that her dark past has followed her to England. Lord James Pierson, famed for his career in the British army, senses that the lovely lady is running from something. Drawn to her beauty and vulnerability, Lord James soon learns her secret, and vows to protect her. Yet even his help may not be enough to extricate her from Bellazoni's maniacal plans.