Trapped in a violent marriage to Sir Fulk de Enderby, a veteran of the wars against Robert the Bruce, Lady Johanna FitzHenry has one last chance to escape. If a stranger can be found who is willing to swear to a court that she was secretly wed to him before her match to Fulk, Johanna will be set free.
Gervase de Laval, fleeing bounty hunters after the Battle of Boroughbridge where the rebels were defeated by Edward II's army, is discovered on FitzHenry land and made an offer he cannot refuse. Pose as Johanna's long-lost love or he and his badly wounded companion will be handed over to the king and hanged as traitors.
Unaware of the true nature of the bargain, Johanna views her hired husband as nothing more than a cold-blooded mercenary. Gervase has no choice but to play the part - his life and that of his companion depends on it. And he has his own dark secret to protect: his real identity and where his true allegiance lies in the battle for the English crown.
Forced to play out the masquerade, the two conspirators are drawn into a dangerous web of deceit that reaches the highest echelons of the English court.
