Barefoot children selling flowers in the street for a few pennies. Revolutionaries demanding a more equal society and threatening to kill their young Queen. Dark-skinned strangers from Britain's colonies arousing fear and scorn among aristocrats and servants alike. London in 1846 is very far from the gracious society Charlotte Edgerton had imagined. Worst of all, her younger brother Tom is being drawn into political agitation that Charlotte fears will lead to violence and perhaps death. London is crowded with impoverished immigrants from famine-stricken Ireland and when one of them-a young kitchen maid-dies in a tragic fire, Charlotte believes it was no accident, although the police scoff at her suspicions. Then the young wife of a friend is kidnapped and Charlotte finds herself in danger as she struggles to discover who is responsible. Even as they start to find answers, Charlotte and her husband, Daniel, are thwarted in their attempt to bring the guilty to justice. Society seems determined to protect the rich and powerful and to punish those who rebel against England's rigid class system. It is only when Queen Victoria herself is confronted by a dangerous mob that questions are addressed and answers found.