A wealthy countess lies dying at the Convent of the Paraclete, brutally beaten by an unknown assailant. Despite entreaties, she is unwilling to name her killer. So the beautiful Catherine LeVendeur, the Paraclete's most learned young novice-scholar, vows to find out the identity of the woman's attacker.

When her beloved Edgar comes to lead her away from the convent to a life outside, Catherine is torn between her quest for justice and the pledge she has made him. Refusing to break any of her promises, Catherine knows that if she abandons her crusade for the truth, the killing will continue, and the convent she loves may be destroyed . . .