Shipwrecked on the remote Brazilian island of Janaleza, Morvenna found herself pitchforked into the uneasy situation of having to wait there for one month — until the next steamer came along — under the authority of the island's autocratic overlord, Roque de Braz Ferro. She found the prospect, to say the least, daunting. Yet she found herself falling in love with him nevertheless. And where would that get her, when there was a beautiful Brazilian girl who was clearly destined to be his bride?