In 1780, Jane Laurent has not been to a ball because at sixteen, she isn’t ready. Raised in the country, Jane appointed herself apprentice to an herbwoman, and it’s a calling she wants to pursue. But the family traipses into London so Jane’s older sister Emma can land herself a lord. The family celebrates when lovely Emma catches the eye of the handsome viscount Andrepont. But the night of the engagement ball, dependable Emma runs away with a soldier. The family panics and pushes Jane forward to fulfill the marriage contract with the much older and oddly unsettling Lord Andrepont. How bad could he be that pragmatic, reliable Emma ran away?

Vasily Nikolaevich Kuznetsov is a man with a past, but at least its far away. Meeting up with Gareth Somerset in a seedy gambling hell outside of Paris was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. Aimless, he follows Gareth to London where he helps his friend win the girl of his dreams, and vows to keep an eye on her while Gareth is deployed to the colonies. But when Gareth’s wife joins her husband in the colonies, and Vasya hears the younger sister is marrying Andrepont, Vasya takes a position as a groom in the lord’s household to protect her.

Years pass, and Vasya watches Jane grow into the formidable and beautiful Lady Andrepont. Despite the fact that he loves her from afar, there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her. And when it comes to murder, Vasya has the experience and the moral flexibility to help…