At nineteen, Lady Lydia Markham was beautiful, bookish and naïve. Her sheltered, loveless upbringing had not educated her in the ways of the beau monde, or the men who inhabited it. So when she met Nathaniel, Lord Fairmont, it was all too easy to be swept away by his rakish charm and good looks. She was devastated when he did not propose marriage, but joined Wellington's army instead.

Six years of battle has changed Nathaniel: older, wiser, the conqueror of the addictions that drove his misspent youth, he's avowed to start afresh. But a chance meeting with Lydia unnerves him; she is so very keen to speak to him, yet he cannot fathom why. Has she waited for him all these years? He is unfit for her and is focused on making amends for another's life that he ruined, and he urges her to forget him.

Nathaniel's indifference leaves Lydia heartbroken, but she reaffirms her vow to begin anew. Unfortunately, she needs Nathaniel's assistance. If ensuring his aid means following him to the Continent, where he's gone to fight Napoleon with the Household Guards, then so be it. But will he help once he knows her secret? Is redemption possible?