In the dark, desolate hills of southern Scotland, not far from the border with England, a mysterious hermit lives under the nickname the Black Dwarf—an ugly hunchback and misanthrope whom the superstitious neighbors consider a sorcerer. At the same time, the harsh calculation of Isabella Vere’s father intervenes in the girl’s fate, and a Jacobite rebellion threatens to overturn the entire surrounding area. A maelstrom of conspiracies, abductions, and clashes brings the heroes face-to-face with the formidable hermit, whose past holds the key to saving the young woman and uncovering the secret of his own tragedy.