The story starts with the issue of inheritance and then it leads to a fantastic love story narrated by Rosalyn Landor. Gareth in the story faces serious issues created for him by his father who because for certain reasons does not like him at all. Not liking is one thing but Gareth’s father hates his very existence. The boy instead of worrying about the inheritance wants to know the secret buried in the pages of the book that he cannot read.
The book of family secrets which he has in his possession is in the Italian language. If only somehow he can translate those pages all his problems would get resolved once and for all. Heroine which Julia Quinn introduces here is different as compared to those which we have heard about in The Viscount Who Loved Me and An Offer from a Gentleman. Hyacinth is clever and especially she is at home in Italian which makes her an important figure in the novel.
She can attract any man towards her without giving her heart or herself to him. With Gareth, she establishes a special connection and when she offers her help in reading out the book of family secrets for him he is naturally attracted towards him. As the reading goes deep they too come closer and think of leaving the book aside for a while. It is their relationship on which the story revolves after that as they come to know that it is more important than the book written in the Italian language. Hyacinth’s personality changes more in this novel because the boy keeps on in the same way.
