Celia Fussell's father is dead, and she reduced to the status of a poor relation in the house of her brother, the new baron, and his shrewish wife. A life of misery looms ahead. But, no. There is hope. Deep in the Black Forest, in the Great Duchy of Baden, stands Celia's inheritance. Among fir trees so dark they almost look black The Castle of Wolfenbach rises. It is a fortress of solitude, of secrets, of old wounds and older mysteries. But it is hers. And only one thing stands in her way: its former master, the hermit, the enigma...the man she is obliged to marry