The renewal of war in 1803 coupled with the threat of invasion by Napoleon catalyzes a tangled tale of love, intrigue and bravery in regency Britain. With the collapse of the Peace of Amiens, the threat of invasion has all Britain frightened. Katherine is faced with the choice between her love, the wounded half-pay Lieutenant Bates - a soldier with few prospects, and finding a suitable husband on the marriage mart in regency London. Her dilemma is made harder when he is called up to train a regiment of volunteers. The jealousies and rivalries that surround the regiment erupt into an argument between Katherine and her love. Recruited to scout Napoleon's Grande Armee on the promise of a suitable position should he return, Bates finds himself torn between love and duty when he meets a young widow in Normandy. Set against the backdrop of Regency England and Napoleonic France, in a period where the existential threat of foreign invasion by a hated foe loomed over every aspect of life, the fates of these individuals is interlocked with the fate of their nation.