"In 1856 New York, Heather Fitzpatrick, a bashful abolitionist, falls for young Army lieutenant David Whitman, who is tracking a runaway slave--the very slave she and her parents rescued from the hands of the slavemongers a few nights earlier. Despite their divergent views on slavery, romance ensues when David dances with Heather at the Cotillion Ball and later that night, walks her home. An engagement quickly follows. When he receives word that his father is ailing, David wants her to accompany him home to Savannah to meet his family. Heather wants to make the trip with him, especially since his father's death seems imminent. With her maid as chaperone, they board the train heading South. After his father passes, his mother insists any marriage will have to wait the requisite year, which is proper for mourning. She hopes to send Heather home for the year, and to use the time to dissuade David from his foolish choice, especially since his mother has already handpicked his potential bride from a neighboring plantation. Heather longs to stay to wait out the year, and to begin teaching the slaves how to read and write, since she knows those accomplishments will be needed when slavery comes to an end. But she knows the South is no place for an abolitionist"--