This time, the duchess had gotten herself into more trouble than ever before. Without friends or a husband to rely on, she found circumstances to be completely out of her control. Yet there was something she could do ? an ace in the hole she?d nearly forgotten about. It was sure work. Moreover, it might be a way to gain the fortune she needed to live out the rest of her life in luxury. This time, nothing could possibly go wrong.

It is said that a father loves his daughter beyond measure, so when Glenessa, the much sought after daughter of Laird Swinton, died at the hands of a Kennedy, war was certain to come. Yet the war between the elder lairds was oddly postponed. It was instead handed down to Glenessa's brother, and the new Kennedy laird. Over the years, Glenessa was a name rarely spoken, but never forgotten by men on both sides who loved her. It remained, however, a simple question of which spark would finally ignite the flames of war, and more importantly - could the MacGreagors stay out of it?

What the MacGreagors feared most was a war with England - that is, until it looked like a clan war might erupt between the Grahams and the Swintons, with the MacGreagor village caught in the middle. All of her life, Colina, eldest daughter of Laird Sawney MacGreagor, desperately wanted to marry and have children, but something happened. Now she refused to even go to the courtyard and let the men walk with her. As hard as Sawney tried to find out what was wrong, he merely succeeded in driving her away. Months later, he was left with only one option - Braxton.

Alexandra Sinclair was dead, or so most of the world thought. The duchess, on the other hand, was very much alive. Safely hidden away in Canada, she had all the time in the world to consider her next moves, one of which included a new way to seek her revenge for the way Hannish MacGreagor so cruelly set her aside. With her daughter now married, and her son living in England, a bored Abigail Whitfield felt useless and lonely. Yet, she had something else on her mind. There was a stranger in town that appeared to be watching her, and she didn't like the looks of him one bit.

Donaldina's mother died when she was four, or so her father said. She suspected something was amiss but never knew what, and now that she was old enough, her father was determined to marry her off. Always before, she managed to waylay his wedding attempts, and when Laird Wallace MacGreagor came to buy spices from her clan, she fully intended to avoid it this time too.

At last, her father agreed to let debutante Blair MacGreagor sail to London to be presented to the King. She took a copy of a lost MacGreagor story with her, but finding time to read was not easy. Not only did she have to avoid being swept off her feet by a man eager to relieve her of her inheritance, her mother's scandalous reputation quickly spread among the first-class passengers.