When Justin, the tall and handsome Marquis of Alton, comes to the rescue of an elfin young beauty named Sylvina, whose dog, Columbus, has been wounded by a snare in the woods on his estate, he is instantly smitten by her beauty and innocence, so unlike the scheming and worldly wise ladies of the Social world in London.
Of course Sylvina does not know that he is the Marquis of Alton, just that he is her 'Knight Errant' and saviour when she most needed one.
And, when he suggests that they repair to Alton Park, he is dismayed to find that she is terrified by the idea of meeting the Marquis. He is even more appalled when, after the idyllic time they had spent in their private woodland Eden, Sylvina refuses ever to see him again.
What the Marquis does not know is that Sylvina is being blackmailed into marriage to the unsavoury Mr. Cuddington, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Only when Cuddington himself is exposed for betraying his country to Napoleon Bonaparte and the French does the Marquis realise that Sylvina has loved him from the second they had first met.
And more and more he is falling in love with Sylvina and now he is determined to set her free from the demons surrounding her, even if he has to kill to do so!

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery.
She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation.
Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world.
She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven.
Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author.
Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed.
Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone's life.