Follow family lines through historical seventeenth-century Italy as they struggle to survive and find love amidst the most trying battles. Francoise Chaplain is wounded almost too deeply to grasp the proposed love of Stefano Marinelli. Bianca Marinelli seeks unorthodox apprenticeship in a male-dominated culture of Italian arts, just as love comes to the studio by equally unusual circumstances. Costanza Biliverti faces fire, theft, revolt and her own daughter kidnapped, but marriage is no comfort if its not for love. Anabella and Albret nearly lose one another when pride and honor put their love on the line in a duel.