It is 1795, a year since Lord Roland Stratton left Cornwall for France to undertake a secret mission for the British Government. When Melissa Tregonning's father is felled by a stroke brought on by desperate financial problems, she has to try to keep the family boatyard running and pay off his debts. Determined to protect his reputation, she must keep his plight and her efforg in the woods owned by her father. His presence there prompts many unanswered questions: Who is he? Why does he seek solitude? And what or whom caused his terrible wounds? Attraction neither dare acknowledge deepens into love. But dark secrets threaten to part them forever. Then Melissa's foolhardy courage leads to a revelation that changes everything.