When Lord Rutherford arrives in Cornwall to appraise his newly inherited estate, he finds the coast overrun by smugglers and the countryside sadly lacking in amusements. But the dowdy young widow he dismisses as unworthy of his attention is not at all what she appears...To her neighbours, Merrie Trelawney is a poor widow who keeps to herself. But under cover of darkness, she leads a band of reckless smugglers to pay for her late husband's debts. When Lord Rutherford discovers her scandalous secret, he pursues her relentlessly, determined to prove that the thrills she can find in his bed will be far more fulfilling than her lust for adventure...