Life was difficult for Lovinia as the half-Sinhalese, half-Portuguese lead dancer in her father's dance troupe. But when she catches the eye of the newly arrived Governor of the Crown Colony of Ceylon, her fortunes change dramatically.

The autocratic Governor, smitten by Lovinia's obvious charms but wary of the disapprovals of a narrow-minded British society, builds a stately country mansion on a promontory overlooking the sea close to the village of Galkissa, just a few miles south of Colombo, where she lives. An underground tunnel from the mansion's cellar allows Lovinia to visit him regularly to conduct their affair secretly.

Life on the island is colourful and exotic, but an undercurrent of violence beneath the bright façade brings excitement and danger to her life. Lovinia is caught up in a treacherous mission and is torn between two very different lives. Will she follow her head or her heart?