Edinburgh, 1804.

Dorothea Flockhart is hiding her past. A woman alone, she avoids men; even the personable Captain Rogers fails to stir her heart despite all his efforts.

While Napoleon's armies threaten invasion, Scotland's capital still hosts balls, although the atmosphere is hectic and men don uniform to meet the impending turmoil.

Carrying many secrets, Dorothea wends her way through the wynds of Edinburgh. But when a personification of the past returns to recreate the nightmares that have haunted her for a decade, which will triumph: love or fear?