Love's Avenging Heart

“‘Is that the way my father first saw you? Naked on that bed? Was it in such a manner as that that you dazed him into taking you to wife?’
"Involuntarily her hand flashed out toward his face. But before she could slap him, he caught her arm and pulled her against him ...”
After she is sold as an indentured servant to a brutal and lecherous innkeeper, Hannah runs away, unable to endure another beating and humiliation. She is saved by the compassion of Malcolm Verner, an elderly and wealthy widower—who soon comes to desire Hannah passionately for himself. To the shock of stuffy Williamsburg society, Malcolm marries Hannah, making her mistress of Malvern, the finest plantation in colonial Virginia. Following Malcolm’s death, she proves herself capable of administering the vast estate on her own. Then her husband’s prodigal son Michael returns to assert his claims to the possession of Malvern and of Hannah.