Why had the handsome stranger sought the freckle-faced orphan when a world of wealthy, beautiful women was at his feet? The fabulous titled adventurer came from across the sea to claim her, Deirdre Rynne, a woman he had seen only once -- in a photograph. He chose her to be his bride -- a bride whose life rested on her purity. But Brendan O'Leary, King of Inish Laoghaire, led a young, innocent girl into a cold, remote, desolate den he called home; on a cursed island that condemned its women to deceit...and perhaps death...