Saranna Stowell was sent to Tiensin, a manor near Baltimore, to act as governess for a young relative. She soon discovered that there was an impenetrable mystery hidden at the manor which seemed connected to treasures collected by the last owner, a sea captain trading in the Orient. The mysterious happenings seemed to both threaten and protect her, but she knew she was entirely threatened by the implacably evil enemy she found inside. This gothic tale from the beloved science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton combines I Ching and the lore of old China to add an occult dimension to a vividly detailed nineteenth-century American setting.