When Captain Scorer died in action, his wife Eve was obliged to seek refuge with her cousin Julia. Treated as a poor relation and pursued by Julia's admirer, Eve is thankful when escape is offered through the bequest of a bookshop in Clerkenwell. What she does not know is that Colonel Jason "Blazes" Ballantyne, her husband's commanding officer, has been ordered by William Pitt to make inquiries concerning a code book that has been left in the book shop by French spies. A mixture of incidents and rumors convince Jason that Eve's reputation is dubious; but that does not prevent attraction flaring between them