A great wedding is to take place at the Abbey, between a beautiful young heiress, Iveta de Massard, the grand-daughter of famed crusader Guimar de Massard, with whom Cadfael had fought at Jerusalem, and the powerful, much older Baron Huon de Domville. But it is no love match, as she is being coerced by her guardians, Godfrid & Agnes Picard. The baron disappears on the night before the wedding, only to be found lying dead in the forest. Cadfael examines the body and determines that he was murdered. Abbot Heribert authorises him to persue the case further.