1572 In the days of Shakespeare… Lucy may be the well-dowered daughter of the wealthiest merchant in England, but no man will go near her. The townspeople claim calamity strikes any fellow foolish enough to cross the sharp-tongued woman’s path. Lucy scorns the gossip, declaring she has neither the need nor the desire for a man. But when she accidentally knocks unconscious a carefree rogue at a market fair, Lucy fears her curse may be real, after all, and hauls the knave home to her father’s house to make sure he recovers. Emile ‘the Fox’ should probably feel thankful the interfering wench sneaked him past the gang who sought to kill him at the market fair, but he doesn’t appreciate the emotions she stirs up, emotions he’d long since banished from his heart. He doesn’t want the foolish desire that creeps up on him, a thieving knave, to win a drop of her respect. All he wants is to steal a plate or two of her father’s silver and be on his way, free of any personal entanglement or responsibility. Lucy’s father, however, has other plans. He’s not about to let slip the only man in England who isn’t afraid of Lucy.