He was a hero of the Revolution, a brilliant politician, lawyer, and very nearly president; a skillful survivor in a raw new country filled with constantly shifting loyalties. Today, Aaron Burr is remembered more for the fatal duel which killed rival Alexander Hamilton. But long before that single shot destroyed Burr's political career, there were other dark whispers about him: that he was untrustworthy, a libertine, a man unafraid of claiming whatever he believed should be his. Sold into slavery as a child in India, Mary Emmons was brought to an America torn by war. Toughened by the experiences of her young life, Mary is intelligent, resourceful, and strong. She quickly gains the trust of her new mistress, Theodosia Prevost, and becomes indispensable in a complicated household filled with intrigue, especially when the now-widowed Theodosia marries Colonel Aaron Burr. As Theodosia sickens with the fatal disease which will eventually kill her, Mary and Burr are drawn together into a private world of power and passion and a secret, tangled union which would have shocked the nation.