Racing along the rocky coast of Cornwall, on a night fit for neither man nor beast, Verity Collier's coach is attacked by the notorious highwayman plaguing the Cornish countryside. The villain's commanding strength and cloak of dangerous sensuality haunt the young governess even after she arrives safely at the home of her new employer, Lord Jagger Ransley, Earl of St. Aubyn.

During the weeks that follow, she quickly grows fond of his two children. But events at the manor house cause her to grow suspicious of Ransley himself. Could he be the dastardly highwayman -- a gentleman by day and a criminal by night? Worse, she has fallen in love with the handsome, enigmatic Ransley, and so decides she has but one course of action: discover the truth for herself.

Descending into the dark world of espionage against Napoleon's most ruthless spies, Verity becomes a pawn in a deadly game of cat and mouse, where traitors and gentleman are equal masters of disguise and the only true intentions lie within a noble heart.