In 1903, tensions between Britain and Germany are starting to loom over Europe, something that has not gone unnoticed by Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves. An agent of the Crown, Colin carries the weight of the Empire, but his focus is drawn to Italy by a series of burglaries at his daughter's palazzo in Florence. He and Emily travel to Tuscany, where they are greeted by a shocking death. Undaunted, they investigate, discovering that the house hides ominous secrets dating back to the days of the Medici, secrets unexpectedly pertinent in the troubled days of the early twentieth century, an uneasy time full of intrigue, duplicity, and warring ideologies.