If Sebastian Cynster doesn't choose a wife soon, his female relatives will assist him. Yet the current debutantes do not appeal. Then Drake Varisey, eldest son of the Duke of Wolverstone, asks for Sebastian's aid. Having assumed his father's mantle in protecting queen and country, Drake must go to Ireland in pursuit of a dangerous plot. But he's received an urgent missive from Lord Ennis. Ennis insists Drake attends an upcoming house party at his Kent estate. Sebastian's first task is to inveigle Antonia Rawlings, a lady he has known all her life, to include him as her escort to the house party. But the gathering is thrown into chaos when Lord Ennis is murdered - just before he was to speak with Sebastian. With a killer continuing to stalk the halls, Sebastian and Antonia search for answers and, all the while, the childhood connection between them strengthens and blooms.