Marney Honeycutt stands on the picket line, surrounded by her family and friends, protesting the terrible sickness and death befalling her fellow factory workers. They are luster-touched, victims of the side effects of the toxic ichorite, the most valuable substance in the world. Up against the heartless factory owner, Yann I. Chauncey, Marney doesn’t stand a chance and when he sends in the guns to break the line, she loses everything except her life.

And vows bloody vengeance.

A decade later, Marney is the nation’s most notorious highwayman, and Chauncey’s daughter seeks an opportune marriage. Marney’s rage and the ghosts of her past will drive her to masquerade as an aristocrat, outmanoeuvre powerful suitors, and win the heart of his daughter, so Marney can finally corner Chauncey and satisfy her need for revenge. But war ferments in the north, and deeper grudges are surfacing…