The last decade of the 19th Century is a time of change for the four families introduced in Books One and Two of the Stone Family Saga. Kellie's children, Kate Chandler and Dallas Hartley Stone are now young adults. When Clifford Hartley, Duke of Essex brings his wife and sons, Ford and Leslie, to California, no one is prepared for the dilemmas that follow. Dallas is involved with Ginny Morgan, daughter of a neighboring rancher. Desperate to keep him, Ginny gets pregnant, but the scheme backfires when the reluctant Dallas refuses to marry her, leaves her with unpleasant choices. She must tell her parents or obtain and abortion. Kate and Ford fall in love, but given the animosity between their fathers, have little chance of building a lasting relationship. Their impulsive actions lead to unexpected consequences, and the young lovers run away to relatives in South Carolina. The unfolding drama moves from California to the royal palaces of England and to a dueling field off the Derbyshire Road, with deadly consequences. "He was the best of all of us, and now..."