Edinburgh, December 1743: In a snow-swept Edinburgh Redcoat Captain Robert Catto and Christian Rankeillor face each other across a divide no bridge can cross. She's in deadly danger: not least from him. HIs investigations have turned up compelling evidence of a real threat posed to the House of Hanover by a plan to restore the House of Stuart to the British throne. Two of those dedicated Jacobite plotters are Patrick Rankeillor, surgeon-apothecary, and his daughter Christian. Yet with each day that passes and despite their very different and deeply-held views, Robert and Christian are falling ever more deeply in love.

Robert Catto always does his duty. It's all he's ever had to hold on to: but he's in danger too. Forced to confront his difficult past and a family connection that could call his loyalty to the crown into question, he could be risking the ruin of his military career. How is he to reconcile doing his duty with his feelings for Christian Rankeillor? And how is she to balance her commitment to her father, their friends and the Stuart Cause with her feelings for Robert Catto?