After Stone was wounded and thrust into an earldom, and Adele is widowed by an abusive husband, these star-crossed childhood friends meet at an English country ball, escape a kidnapper searching for a mysterious treasure, and depart for Scotland ahead of those intent on killing anyone in their way.

In the year since Adele Maxwell's husband drowned while searching for treasure in a far-off land, leaving her with little but the dilapidated Maxwell estate, the Scottish baroness has kept it barely running. While attending a ball for the first time in years, in a borrowed gown, her evening is ruined by a coarsely-dressed ruffian intent on forcing her to take him to a hidden treasure. That she has no idea what he wants makes no difference to him.