Countess Anastasia and Irena, a peasant girl, were worlds apart, but when Duncan MacRaith learned that Lord Eveson had raped Irena, he rushed to the big house intent on revenge. Now, with Eveson's departure, the Countess finds him a welcome diversion in her unhappy marriage, and the pair talk, drink vodka and lose all inhibitions. The Countess and Irena both become pregnant, but Irena fears that Eveson had fathered her baby. And then war breaks out in Russia and Duncan disappears whilst serving on the front lines. Irena must battle to find him and a future for herself.