"Valparaiso, June 1822. Admiral Lord Cochrane, who has led the Chilean fleet to victory and independence over the country's Spainish rulers, sails into Valparaiso harbour. Maria Graham, a charismatic and opinionated young widow, watches from her house above the bay, believing her loneliness has come to an end. A popular hero of the Napoleonic wars, Cochrane has long been at odds with the Admiralty in London. Despite a year in prison in England, Cochrane's outspoken independence has not been subdued and now, in Maria, he has found a woman whose intelligence and spirit of adventure match his own. When Lord Cochrane is invited to head Brazil's fleet, Maria travels to Rio de Janeiro with him, only to face an unexpected drama in the court of the new Emperor."--Back cover.