Raphael Daughtry, captain of the English army, overnight became a duke and the owner of a huge estate. The title and estate came to Raphael unexpectedly: his uncle, the thirteenth Duke of Ashurst, and his sons died tragically in a shipwreck. The family mansion met the newly-minted Duke with many problems. The young sisters, barely seventeen years old, longed to appear in society. Several attempts were made on Raphael's life. And most importantly, Charlotte Sievers, or Charlie, as Raphael nicknamed her as a child, turned from a mischievous girl into a beautiful woman, but the more attention the Duke showed, the more she moved away. Some terrible secret connected with the dead cousins prevented Charlie from responding to Rafael's advances.