In 1880 the meeting place of international royalty and the twilight world of the demi-monde is the dazzling casino at Monte Carlo.

To the young and beautiful Charlotte Grainger, humble companion to Princess Natalya, one figure stands out above Sarah Bernhardt, the Prince of Wales and the crowned heads of Europe — Count Sandor Karolyi, the man referred to as the Devil’s Spawn.

Can she ever hope to understand the enigmatic Hungarian — a man of wealth and title, of notorious reputation, a man who regards her as mildly amusing? Will she learn the cause of the anguish he is so careful never to show in public, and can she help him to banish forever the past which threatens his future happiness?