ENGLAND, 1790
Orphaned, penniless, alone: Rebecca Somerville is forced to confront and overcome a range of powerful forces ranged against her. That a simple girl like her might inherit a mythical treasure or become embroiled in revolutionary turmoil is beyond belief. Yet to wrest back control of her fate, Rebecca must plunge into a world of adventure she can scarcely imagine.
Rebecca Miller lives an idyllic childhood with her uncle's family after her mother's death, her father away at sea to make his living. When her beloved Aunty Betty dies in a late stillbirth, Rebecca's life begins to unravel.
Rebecca's father inherits the bankrupt Somerville estate. Under pressure because of his radical views, her uncle takes her cousins to a new life in America, leaving Rebecca in the care of a local worthy to await the return of her father.
Her guardian's views on the upbringing and behaviour of girls are utterly different to her uncle's - Rebecca is treated like a lowly servant. Her father dies at sea so Rebecca inherits the Somerville name.
Her delighted guardian loses no time in parading such a prize before suitable company. But instead of some yeoman's son the man who declares an interest is the Earl of Marshwood, one of the richest men in the country. Why such a decadent rake, three times her age, decides on this sudden rush to marriage nobody can tell; but Rebecca learns she's been won in a bet.
Life under her guardian had been cruel enough; but the savage violence with which the earl claims his prize is a stark reminder to Rebecca of her utter powerlessness. She swears to find a way to free herself and claim back her life.
First she must survive. Then she must strive to seize her independence, and all this in a world where a woman - particularly a young one - is little more than a chattel, a plaything to be toyed with before being cast aside or abandoned to endless childbearing. Rebecca lacks resources and power; time is running out to avoid her imminent marriage. She must flee but has nowhere to go, every law and the expectations of the whole of society against her.
In the depths of her despair, unlikely allies appear: Sarah, her stalwart though clueless maid; Marie, the exotic and mysterious housekeeper of the Reverend Dean, the churchman who learns of the earl's obsessive search for a legendary treasure, supposedly hidden by Rebecca's distant ancestor these two hundred years; and Adam Dean, his grandson.
In the end escape involves an undertaking of impossible danger and daring. A coded letter alerts her to the plight of Robert, a childhood friend who is being held by the revolutionary authorities in France. Rebecca sets out to rescue him but is caught in a trap.
Saved by an unlikely rescuer, she must return to England to face her fate, including marriage to a man she hates, fears and despises; a man who wants only this mythical treasure.
If the Somerville treasure even exists. And if it can be found...
