Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: a duke is quick to request her hand in marriage. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. In the court's eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess' future hangs entirely in the balance.