Susannah Leyton has grown up behind the counter of her fathers apothecary shop surrounded by the resinous scents of lavender rosemary liquorice & turpentine. More learned than any apprentice she concocts soothing medicines & ointments with great skill. Content with her life Susannah is shocked when her widowed father announces his intentions to marry again & later becomes caught in a battle of wills with her new step-mother. When she receives a proposal of marriage from handsome & charming merchant Henry Savage she believes her prayers have been answered & resolves to be a good wife to him. But Henry is a complex & troubled man haunted by his memories of growing up in Barbados. As the plague sweeps through the city tragedy strikes & the secrets of Henrys past begin to unfold.. .