In the Christmas season of 1913, Grace Knightś elegant old hotel on Cuernavacaś main plaza is the place to see and be seen. Mexicoś landed aristocracy, members of the foreign community, wealthy tourists, and young army officers with their wives flock to the Colonial. Outside the city, in the shadows of the valleyś two volcanoes, a company of federal soldiers raids the hacienda of Don Miguel Sanche.