An Italian family saga. The late 1500s and early 1600s may have been a time of elegant romance, the rise of artistic evolution, and one of the richest cultural landscapes ever, but in Italy, life, love, and even survival are anything but simple. Amidst the struggles of class separation, plague, duels, revolts, and tyranny, the lives of four families intertwine. The Chaplains, Bilivertis, Marinellis, and Maseos become their own timeline of romance and family ties. Françoise Chaplain is wounded almost too deeply to grasp the proposed love of Stefano Marinelli. Bianca Marinelli seeks an unorthodox apprenticeship as a woman in a male-dominated culture of the arts, just as love comes to the same studio through equally unusual circumstances. Contanza Biliverti faces fire, theft, revolt, and her own daughter's kidnapping but finds no comfort in the concept of marriage if it's not for love. Anabella and Albret suffer their own pride and honor as good intentions and misunderstandings hinge the fate of their love on a duel. But history proves God's will is steadfast and love can endure. - Back cover.