Nine years ago free-spirited Richard Allen fled England when his avaricious father, the Earl of Manford, betrothed him to Julia Miller, the young daughter of London's wealthiest merchant. Having seen how an arranged marriage ruined his older brother's prospects for happiness, Richard takes to the sea determined to live his own life. In the Caribbean, he joins a band of treasure-hunting pirates and adopts the persona of a Frenchman named Jean Paul. When he dares to slip back into England to carry out an urgent task for his captain, Richard falls in love with a married woman, Georgina Malory. His attempt to woo her at a masked ball brings him face to face with another beautiful woman.
Grown-up and sophisticated, Julia Miller, a close friend of Georgina Malory's, recognizes Richard despite his new identity, but he doesn't recognize her. Here's the man who she's taken legal action to have declared dead because he stands in the way of her making a match with that perfect someone she knows she'll meet one day. Determined to have her revenge for him abandoning her, Julia wants Richard to fall in love with her before James Malory runs him out of England. But Richard proves to be far more seductive than Julia anticipated. When the Earl of Manford discovers his son is in England, Julia's plan goes awry and she finds herself on the high seas with her betrothed - who is not merely an irresponsible nobleman, but a pirate!
