‘There is an old Chinese proverb which says: He who rides the tiger dares not dismount. You are like that man, senhora. You cannot escape from your destiny,’ someone had said to Dominique – and she could not help feeling that ‘riding a tiger’ accurately described the situation that had sprung up between her and Vincente Santos. She had come out to Brazil to marry her fiancé, John Harding, and at first Vincente’s attentions seemed the ordinary courtesy of an employer to a newcomer to his country – until the two of them were swept away on a torrent of feeling which ended din a whirlwind marriage. And not until it was too late did Dominique learn the real reason for Vincente’s actions. In her heart, though, Dominique knew that, some what may, she would never dismount from her tiger – but what if she were thrown?