Two months after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, Tysen Sherbrooke, a vicar, widower, and father of three children, has just been told by the earl that he's become the new Baron Barthwick of Kildrummy Castle in Scotland. Tysen feels it is his duty to visit his new holdings. Devout, thoughtful, and honorable, Tysen's world explodes when he steps into a beehive of complications -- facing down people who would as soon slit his English throat as look at him. Then the Local Bastard, Mary Rose Fordyce -- a woman with a soft heart and courageous spirit -- comes into his life, in desperate need of his protection.