Miss Martha Mary Crawford

Who was the young woman whose eyes burned into his with a fierce and steady hatred? His practiced eye saw a woman too young to have shouldered the burden and shame she had, a woman who fear and bitterness had driven to brink... -- She returned his gaze, seeing only the brutal, callous man who was enjoying the tawdry favors of her late father's mistress...

And yet these two proud, deeply scarred people would soon be overwhelmed by a love stronger than either of them -- by an epic struggle of wills and passion!