Ben and Sonja Pulaski return to South Carolina, in spite of death threats from Jeremiah Williamson, owner of Palmetto Haven plantation. Jeremiah hosts his niece, Lydia Binterfield, cast out from Havre de Grace by her half brother. Lydia is determined to gain control of her new home, joining Jeremiah in his hatred for the Pulaskis. Sonja discovers an ending to the nightmare gnawing at her soul. Working with the mysterious Argyle Corporation, Ben must continue to ship rice and lumber from Georgetown into the Chesapeake Bay, and find a way to defuse Williamson's anger, while keeping his real purpose secret.The soft beauty and tropical climate of the South Carolina low country was a perfect location for rice cultivation in a world calling it Carolina Gold. In 1844, new millionaires were arising monthly and building extravagant mansions on rice plantations in the river marshes near Georgetown. Eighteen thousand slaves labored in swamps of sweltering heat, risking yellow fever, planting and harvesting millions of rice plants with only hands and hoes. Ben and Sonja move through the centers of slavery under Ben's guise as a buyer, while secretly smuggling slaves north.