It is 1797 on the south coast of England. Miss Kathleen Vye is supposed to be marrying Nathanial Wently-Hobbs. Jake McKerry is the survivor of a shipwreck. Sam Mulligan is an unwilling thief. Halfhitch has enemies and won't talk about his past. Buckshot's past is even more mysterious. And then there's the Press Gangs, stalking the countryside by night, who don't act like Navy press gangs normally do... Are they smugglers or wreckers or something worse?