Book excerpt: Julia Wentworth planned to spend her last few days in England in a leisurely manner. Her itinerary did not include being abducted by a lunatic, an accusation of conspiracy to murder--or leaving her own century. At the wish of her recently deceased aunt, Julia searches for the grave of a missing relative and is intrigued by the headstone of a young man hanged for treason. She encounters Stuart Faversham, a grim individual who is pleasant enough company when he is of a mind and thoroughly unpleasant when he is not, and whose views on love and fidelity are decidedly cynical. He is convinced that the young man--his brother--died an innocent man. A porcelain figurine, her missing relative, an encounter with the Duke of Cumberland, and a sealed letter from her dead aunt draw Julia into a web of violence, intrigue--and an unexpected encounter with love.