Captain Caleb Cameron and First Mate Duncan MacDougal need money to set themselves up as legitimate privateers during the war between the British and the new United States of America. With the prizes they'll conquer, they will be rich, so they risk the noose and accept a large sum to shanghai a princess and her lady's maid. What they get is a pair of brazen, notorious women who will stop at nothing to get what they desire. Annie Puddin, lady's maid, has had adventures, riding as highwayman's assistant by night, learning how to be a lady by day. So when she and her friend Ginny, a housemaid, spend an evening dressing up in the absence of their new mistress and dreaming of being rich, the champagne and caviar are nothing unusual—but being snatched and tossed out the window is a new experience, and there are more to come.