Cleona Wickham, sheltered and excluded all her young life was going to Rome! Asked to accompany her childhood friend Lady Beryl to Italy, this unexpected change in her fortunes was to be an exciting adventure! Then a chance encounter with a stranger, who stole a kiss, changed everything as she discovered the man in question was none other than the fiancé of her friend. Detesting the man, yet under his protection, the travelling party departed for Rome. For the first time in her young life Cleona was to discover the beauty and joy of Italy, but the journey was fraught with peril - would their trip end in the love and happiness she had always dreamed of, but never had - or would she fall prey to the many dangers that lay in her path?