Beautiful but frivolous Sylvia McAllister is sent from Bath to her country cousins to avoid yet another undesirable suitor. At Larkhill Manor she becomes embroiled with her handsome cousin Clement on leave from the Peninsular Wars and with Rupert Darville their neighbour, a gauche sprig of the nobility. The appearance of Baron Mulheim, a sophisticated, older French courtier with a hint of mystery, further complicates matters. Mix in her ebullient twelve-year-old cousin Harriet, a duel, an elopement and 'moonrakers', and the quiet town of Larkhill will never be the same again.