When Charlotte Carstairs and her young sister and brother are orphaned by the death of their mother she has no choice but to seek out her estranged grandfather, Lord Thurston. However, Major Jack Griffin, a disfigured and dissolute Napoleonic war veteran, has inherited the title and is determined not to allow Charlotte and her family to remain at Thurston. Not wishing to appear uncaring he issues an impossible challenge—Charlotte can remain if she is able to improve the dilapidated house and poor estate, which are in ruins because all the money was lost in a shipping disaster. Charlotte is determined to stay and equally determined to persuade Lord Thurston to mend his ways and take a proper interest in his property. But it is not her intention that he takes an interest in her as well. As they grow closer sinister forces are working to ruin their plans. Can they unmask the murderous plotters before they lose everything?