Creole Betrayal

In the early 1800s, Jurissa Campbell Winterton, pressured into marriage to a man she scarcely knows, sails with him from Boston toward New Orleans. Since her husband, Philip, double her age and fond of alcohol, is ill and can't tolerate her presence, Jurissa spends much of her time alone on deck. There, she meets a dashing Creole gentleman, Leon du Motier, who's entranced by her beauty and pays romantic court to her. The result is they both fall madly in love. One fateful night, Philip Winterton falls overboard under mysterious circumstances, but due to his heavy drinking, no one is blamed and he's presumed dead. Believing she's a widow, Jurissa enters New Orleans nearly penniless, and with Philip's two slaves, a brother and sister, in tow. Meanwhile, in order to save his family's plantation when his father dies, Leon must go through with an arranged marriage of his own. But deeply in love with Jurissa, he continues to see her in secret until she learns of his impending nuptials. Grief-striken of living without Leon, Jurissa also faces potential scandal when she realizes she's pregnant with his child, and makes desperate plans of her own. Will Jurissa ever be able to forgive Leon for his betrayal? And will she ever be able to forgive herself for keeping the knowledge of his child from him? And what will happen to her when Philip Winterborn suddenly resurfaces, very much alive and desperate to reclaim his wife?