The book is set in the late 1400's In the Venetian Republic. Zaneta and her family are threadbare aristocrats who are anticipating an inheritance. When Zaneta encounters a young beauty at the bedside of their sick donor, she despairs. Then she recalls the phrase "the poison is the dose" Instead of jail, she is able to expiate her crime in Assisi. There are bitter disappointments before she can fashion a new life. In digressions, two traders discuss historical events: such as 1453 battle of Constantinople. And, two professors converse about philosophy, often.