Prologue: Mirembe

Mirembe was the illegitimate daughter of a Dutch trader and a slave, and the world never lets her forget it. At ten, she is bought and freed by Thomas Keane, adopted to become the playmate for his sickly daughter, Ruthanne. The veteran of the French and Indian War treats her with nothing but love and kindness and renames her Rachel. When she debuts into society with Ruthanne, society refuses to allow her to forget where she came from and Rachel battles against the racism and sexism of the world around her. When whispers of her long-lost sister reach her ears, she and Ruthanne embark on a journey into the south to find her, but she wasn't counting on a new problem: falling in love with someone beyond her reach.