James Macdonald was young and happy, and his company was much sought after by the ladies of Paris, where he had been educated. He was not a romantic, but he did sometimes dream that he would meet the perfect beauty who would love him passionately for just as long as he desired. So when one evening a lady in cloak, hood and velvet mask presented herself at his door, he had her admitted, and kept her in conversation, even when it became obvious that she took him for his cousin, Ian Macdonald. It was a small deception, but it shook his life to the foundations, for the girl was Madeleine de Pierrefort, and her brother, Raymond, had been murdered. When the men of the Pierrefort family were unable to avenge an injury, the women took over. The Macdonalds also always sought revenge. There was to be conflict and sudden death and danger from the meeting, besides love and a happy ending.