After her grandfather's death, Jacintha Howard was left with only the family's New York mansion, Riverview, and her abiding love for Earl Britton. She had adored her guardian since she was a child, but Earl was married to another, and Jacintha would never be only his mistress. To save Riverview, and herself, Jacintha was forced into a degrading marriage with a vulgar, sadistic brute whose fortune was squeezed from the city's poor. But as the Civil War swept across the nation, changing the destiny of all who were caught in its fury, Earl and Jacintha held desperately to their love, their passions entwined in defiant longing for the happiness their hearts had promised.