Carolina, the Contessina DeSimone, is young, beautiful, and wealthy. Helpless in her father's quest for power, she finds herself living at the Palazzo Reale in Turin as a lady-in-waiting and confidant of Margherita, the Princess of Savoy. When the childhood friend with whom she elopes dies while on mission for Pope Pius IX, her father, the powerful Count Aurelio, financial advisor to Vittorio Emanuele II, disinherits and disowns her. Left in disgrace at a dilapidated villa that once belonged to her late mother, Carolina is easy prey for the rogue elements who roam the 19th century Italian countryside. The handsome, mysterious Navarre comes to her rescue. A soldier of fortune once in the pay of King Francis II of the Two Sicilies, he is accustomed to taking what he wants without regard for the consequences. What refuge could he possibly offer her—and why?