On a moonlit London night, Suzanne Rannoch slips away from a glittering Mayfair party to assist a wounded man who has escaped Paris one step ahead of Royalist pursuit. In fever-wracked delirium, the man warns Suzanne of a plot to rescue Napoleon Bonaparte—a plot that could bring chaos to Suzanne's world, for though now married to the grandson of a British duke, she was once an agent for Bonaparte...Before she can ask more questions, the mysterious man disappears into the London night. That same evening, Suzanne's husband Malcolm, himself a former spy for Britain, is summoned to the warehouse of a shipping company where a thief has been knifed to death. Beside the body is a secret compartment, but whatever the compartment contained is gone. These two seemingly unconnected incidents prove to be the opening gambit in a deadly game that will test the Rannochs' skill, strain their divided loyalties to Britain and France, and entangle not only fellow agents and spymasters, but their friends and family. The stakes are their security, their marriage, their very lives. "Shimmers like the finest salons in Vienna." — Deborah Crombie "Meticulous, delightful, and full of surprises." — Tasha Alexander "Glittering balls, deadly intrigue, sexual scandals. . .the next best thing to actually being there!"— Lauren Willig "A superb storyteller."— Deanna Raybourn