It is 1793. The French have sent their king and queen to the guillotine and enterprising Englishmen are secretly bringing noble families out of France. Following an illicit London scandal, Fenella Hadleigh has been sent to stay with her aunt and uncle on the tranquil Dorset coast but it does not prove to be the peaceful environment that her guardians had sought for the beautiful young girl. For it is here that Fenella meets Sir Andrew Knowle and his enchanting fiancee Juliet Landsbury. And it is here that Louis de Viviers and his family finally arrive on English shores, brought from the continent by men with a passion for danger. How Fenella becomes involved in this daring plan and the way in which her actions change the course of her life make a lively and intriguing tale of recklessness and romance.