1790. In Europe, the war against the French rages. In Ayrshire, a different kind of battle begins... Once, Frederick Striker betrayed her, then abandoned Clare thirteen years earlier. Now, Clare Quinn is no longer a guileless, impressionable innocent but a well-to do widow, mother of a young daughter whom she must protect from his predatory charm and her greedy machinations. Their deadly game of passion and deceit will inevitably bring ruin to one of them...