A cripple, his pregnant wife and a middle-aged valet. That is Marie-Catherine's army, so everything is down to her. With every minute counting, only she can save The Shadow, and his uncle's family who were bait in the trap set for him. But she wants revenge as well, passionately. His enemies are also her own, they owe her and she's going to kill them, once and for all. She made a vow in the grim fortress prison in Rouen and the time has come to fulfil it, back in the very same place. But she isn't 'just a mere woman'... and she is determined. Still the headstrong, wilful and eccentric individual she's always been, nothing is going to stop Marie-Catherine, even though her plan is risky in the extreme and the odds heavily stacked against her. And when she's done that, because failure isn't an option she can bear to contemplate, she's going to return to England and try to save her wreck of a marriage. But with her very life at stake, and that of The Shadow already doomed, is all this a step too far, even for her?