To Cassie Armitage and her well-to-do family, Robert Montague seems a perfect suitor: a distinguished preacher with a glamorous past and impressive connections. Only after marriage will trusting and idealistic Cassie discover that Montague is not all that he seems.

Nancy Winfield, born to the workhouse and betrayed by her protectors, is quick to recognize the preacher's evil intentions.

Imprisoned in a dangerous marriage and deceived by her sister, Cassie finds an ally in Nancy, and a friend in widower Allan Hunter, who is a victim of Montague's twisted schemes. Beneath the surface of Cassie's staid existence perverse and deadly passion run deep, threatening a tragedy that only Nancy Winfield's loyalty - and Cassie's courage - can prevent.