A Baron who is more than he seems, A Viscountess with access to secrets, a treasonous plot to kill, a conflict of love and duty, a love beyond all expectation.

Cecil Carlisle, Baron Setford, has spent 20 years as the King’s spymaster, having put aside love for duty. But now, with the war over, and the world a different place, he has begun to consider the possibility of having a life for himself. He might even succeed, if plotters would stop trying to assassinate the Prince Regent.

Anna Trubridge, Dowager Viscountess Farnsworth, is a childless widow who has devoted herself to charitable support of poor unmarried mothers and their children. With her husband near five years gone, she finds herself lonely, and in need of change. What she was thinking of was straightforward, but when the girls who come to her for help bring dangerous information, things become far more complicated.

When she takes that information to Baron Setford, he sees only one option, and Lady Farnsworth is recruited as a spy. A pretend courtship seems an appropriate cover. He expected to foil a conspiracy, he did not expect to find himself falling in love with his newest recruit.

Will the conspirators keep their secrets long enough to succeed with their plot? Will Anna be trapped by their plans? And if it comes down to it, when Anna’s life is at risk, who will Baron Setford save – the woman he loves, or the Prince he is sworn to protect?