She needs to ferret out his secrets. He's doing his level best to keep them. Miss Honor Winslow wants revenge. Her father has been missing since the war with Napoleon ended. Then a week ago, a letter arrived from him asking for help, but it wasn't signed, and no address had been included. Needing answers, she enlists the help of one of her friends, who has connections to the Home Office. If the old, pompous windbags there won't listen, she will do the job herself, despite her physical difficulties following a minor apoplexy. All Mr. Gideon McGarrett wants out of life is peace, and nearly forty, it's finally within reach. Ready to close his last mission, the only thing he needs to do is extract a man of high military rank from where he's hiding after being wounded. The one thing that stands in the way of a spotless career is the damned interference of a clever and vulnerable woman who insists on joining his mission. As Honor and Gideon bicker during the journey north, heated awareness springs from forced proximity, and all too soon that desire becomes distracting, especially when a faux engagement is offered out of necessity. Once in the Lake District, when they locate her father, the woman who wants him dead has also arrived. It will take some smart negotiating and perhaps a fight to unravel the mess. Only then can the pair make a go at a life together-if they can stop hiding their emotions and let down their guards to enjoy the ride.