The beautiful but unhappy wife of the Earl of Essex, Frances Howard meets the talented Anne Turner, the two strike up an unlikely, yet powerful, friendship. Within the stifling limitations of Jacobean England, each hopes to change her circumstances. Frances is trapped in a miserable marriage while loving another, and newly-widowed Anne struggles to keep herself and her six children alive as she waits for a promised proposal. A desperate plan to change their fortunes is hatched, but one misstep could cost them everything.