Three years after his secret mission to Aquitaine, poet and diplomat Geoffrey Chaucer finds himself once more embarked on royal business. After an arduous journey in the spring of 1373, he reaches Florence, a city twice the size of London and the banking centre of Europe. Chaucer has come for money for Edward III, who needs a loan to prop up the ongoing English campaign against France. Arrangements with the banking house run by Antonio Lipari should be straightforward, but Chaucer soon discovers that various people are opposed to the deal, including Lipari's blind brother and his ambitious secretary. Within days Antonio Lipari has died, suspiciously. Violence is bubbling under the surface of this city of stone towers and golden vistas. Outside the walls is camped a band of English mercenaries while, inside, Chaucer himself is aware of shadowy pursuers. Following a fishy trail and the clues provided by a fallen statue, Chaucer must establish the truth about the death of the banker and others before he can return home to England.