Happily married and enjoying the life domestic, Ursula has her mind on family matters, not court treachery, as she begins to plan a betrothal for her young daughter Meg. When the powerful Duke of Norfolk extends an invitation for Ursula and her family to travel to London to meet Edmund Dean, a potential suitor, Ursula's hopes are quickly dashed: there is something in Dean's eyes that Ursula distrusts. Furthermore, she has also stumbled upon a rapidly accelerating plot closing in on her dear half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I, whom she is sworn to protect. When murder strikes the Duke's household, and a ciphered correspondence hints at the return of the deposed Mary, Queen of Scots, it's up to Ursula to keep the intrigue under wraps while racing to preserve the Queen's life. With Meg quickly falling in love with the wrong man, Ursula must walk a knife's edge to save her innocent daughter...and an unknowing throne.