Court-martialed after a night on leave lands him in bed with an unwed young lady of Quality, Lieutenant-Colonel Hastings Adair faces the ultimate disgrace and is dishonorably discharged from service. All the while, though, Adair proclaims his innocence, saying that he met Miss Alice Prior at a ball, and after a pleasant chat, she sent him a desperate note asking him asking him to see her home. He obliged, of course, and his last recollection of that evening was of getting into the carriage. Abandoned by his family and all but a few friends, Adair sets out to find the lady he is accused of having ruined. Mysteriously, though, Alice Prior has disappeared. After a wild chase that has Adair fighting for his life more than once, Miss Prior is finally found-forcefully married to the rogue that abducted her. As his wife, she is unable to testify against him, but Adair and his faithful friends, Paige Manderville and Toby Broderick, devise a risky trap that not only catches the rogue, but foils a dangerous political plot as well. This is the third installment in "genre master" (Publishers Weekly) Patricia Veryan's acclaimed Regency series, begun with THE RIDDLE OF ALABASTER ROYAL and followed by THE RIDDLE OF THE LOST LOVER, and her fans will instantly recognize her signature mix of heart-stopping suspense and delightful romantic adventure here.