Eighteen years ago, the desperate and heavily pregnant noblewoman Rhonda fled as a stowaway aboard a ship bound for America. Now she returns to England a wealthy woman, determined to introduce her illegitimate daughter, Amber, into Victorian society.

But when Rhonda is blackmailed, threatened, and forced to confront the ghosts of her past, she suffers a devastating emotional collapse.

Amber finds refuge with her great-aunt, the Duchess of Mullgrove, where she discovers not only a strange new world but also love. Meanwhile, the Duchess pieces together the loose threads of Rhonda's past, seeking to reconcile her with her family—and free her heart for true love.

The key to it all: a long-lost medallion.