Two women fightinbg for one man. Two queens competing for dominance. One remarkable woman who will die rather than deny her principles or need for freedom. Mary is Queen of Scotland but she has been forced to flee her land and take refuge in an England that is ruled by her cousin Elizabeth. But England. precariousin its Protestant state, set against the mighty powers of Spain, France, and rome, doesn't need a charismatic Catholic figurehead atlarge. So Elizabeth's chief advisor, Cecil, devises a plan in which Mary will live under guard with his trusted accomplice: Bess of Hardwick. Bess is self-made woman, a shrewd survivot. She is newly married to her fourth and most dsitinguished husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury. But what marriage can withstand the charms of Mary? Or the threat of rebellion that she always carries? Mary must wait in her privileged imprisonment for the return to Scotland and her infant son; but wainting is not the same as doing nothing...