Elinor is bored with her quiet life in Norfolk with her aunt and uncle, waiting until she can marry Francis, a captain in George I's army. Though she looks forward to the marriage she worries about the probable disapproval of her brother Kit. If, that is, he is still alive. He has been fighting for the Jacobites, now defeated and driven from the country. Kit, however, has not been heard of and could be dead, perished on the battlefield. Either that or he is now a fugitive. When a mysterious stranger arrives claiming he carries messages from Kit she dare not believe him, especially as he says Kit wants her to go with him to France. Saying he has promised Kit to bring her, Sir Talbot Carr carries her off, and they find the journey far from easy.