Watch the wall, my darling

England lies under threat of invasion by Napoleon. Christina Tretton, a young American woman bound by a promise to her dying father, travels to the ancestral home to try to mend broken family ties. At Tretteign Grange she finds her ailing but still domineering grandfather, a featherbrained aunt, and a tall, dark and handsome cousin who may or may not be a spy -- but most certainly is a smuggler.