The Scent of Roses

Lady Felice Sutton agrees to marry Lord Christopher to save her beloved father from debtors' prison. In spite of his fearsome reputation she is convinced he must have some goodness in him and she is grateful and determined to make him a good wife. But his volatile temperament and distrust of women make that almost impossible.

Despite this, she finds herself falling in love with him and her one hope is that he will give up the peasant woman who has borne him two children. But when he finds his peasant mistress dead and is convinced Felice has poisoned her, she discovers just how merciless he can be.

He sends her away to await trial for murder, not knowing that the pestilence is creeping closer and when he realises his mistake, it is too late. He finds the village where he sent his wife to be devastated, nothing left but blackened corpses and anonymous graves, and no sign of Felice.