In the autumn of 1793, shell-shocked from his experiences of Robespierre's Terror, George Keene heads for Philadelphia, where he has relatives. He wants to avoid further involvement in the British espionage campaign against Revolutionary France. But Keene can't escape so easily. Edmond Genet, the French ambassador, is attempting to forge an alliance of 'free nations' against the reactionary monarchs of the Old Order. American society is divided. Sir Thomas Chailoner, the British spymaster, arrives and volunteers Keene's services to the pro-British faction. Keene complies, infiltrating the Jacobin clubs that Genet is setting up. Escaping with his life proves, yet again, to be no mean feat for Keene, especially when he finds himself caught up in the volatile repercussions of the French abolition of slavery and the British attack on France's West Indian colonies.