Maria Onderdonk, daughter of a prominent Long Island widower, steps out of the dutiful-daughter role after a year of family mourning. Her best friend Carolyn involves her in an Abolitionist Society meeting where Maria meets Henry Simms, a medical college student secretly helping slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. As the nation is swept closer to Civil War, Henry courts Maria through letters. When Henry is about to open a medical practice, the War of the Rebellion begins. Strong parental sentiments and wartime incidents involving memorable characters weave conflict through the story. Maria's diary and Henry and Maria's letters become a chronicle of their love as they are caught up in epic events of a nation at war. Determined to find a way to help the causes she believes in, Maria follows her heart, and Henry, to Washington, never imagining that death and terror await her in that war-torn city.Mary Fremont Schoenecker lives with her husband, Tom, in Cape Haze, Florida.