Major William Devane arrived back in England after five years of fighting in the Napoleonic wars. His violent and cold reception in England within hours of his landing seemed even worse than the unfortunate events which had seen him exiled abroad. Other forces, even less kindly inclined than his old enemies, soon began to shape his fate. While traveling north to his inheritance, he was sidetracked by an urgent plea for help and found himself dragged into a tragic and deeply personal situation that entangled him in its emotional web. He was willingly maneuvered into marriage and became a widower, all in the space of less than an hour. That was just the start of it! His life was turned upside down, thrown as he was into the midst of four of the most interesting and determined ladies he had ever encountered, one of whom had all too quickly learned only the worst of him and seemed intent on putting an end to his existence! The shades of his past were not absent for long, however, for the violence of his earlier history was called upon to defend these ladies. He rapidly discovered that he had a much more difficult and challenging situation to address than he might have thought possible and one that he even began to enjoy. A return to his old smuggling habits, along with a necessary abduction, provided the means of bringing an end to all of the emotional uncertainties and gentle deceptions which had become an integral part of his new life.