Cornelia only met her husband-to-be a month previous to her marriage, arranged by her dominating aunt and caretaker - married hastily to the man her parents had already decided on when she was much younger, and whom her stern aunt had considered to be a good choice, she is spirited away with him as he and his regiment follow General Cornwallis to India. Returned just barely from the war in America, he is surrounded by glory and mystique despite the British defeat for his courage, and Cornelia, trusting and young and incapable of changing her fate, feels great admiration and even attraction to the man who is in his prime and very handsome as well as well known and rich. But after the British troops have reached India, Cornelia begins to learn more about her husband's past, his methods, and indeed, his life...