What strange secret made rich beautiful tempestuous Bella Baxter irresistible to the poor Scottish medical student Archie Mc Candless? Was it her mysterious origin in the home of his monstrous friend Godwin Baxter the genius whose voice could perforate eardrums? This story of true love & scientific daring whirls the reader from the private operating-theatres of late-Victorian Glasgow through aristocratic casinos low-life Alexandria & a Parisian bordello reaching an interrupted climax in a Scottish church.