1893 Vermont, Amy Merlin watches Peter (her brother) and Emily enjoying themselves at their wedding party in Amy's house. At twenty-two years of age, she hopes for a caring and compassionate man of her own. Nick Hawthorne, a man she had just met, tries to woo her to no immediate avail because she witnessed him eavesdropping on a private conversation between the Merlin's earlier. He says that he was interested in Peter and Emily's love story, but she can tell that he is lying. Vermont 1893, Beth Merlin's own loneliness is plaguing her now that both her grown-up children are married, and Sir Edward Chanel's spying on her could mean an end to that loneliness in either the form of her death or a steamy romance between the two. But Edward has secrets of his own that even a powerful witch like Beth would never expect. His mysteries are the stuff of legend, and the danger that Beth is entering into will be nothing less than her ultimate challenge.