Sometimes the humorous one is deceptively dangerous . . . Jack Owens purchased a commission in the army to escape his hateful grandmother and the dilapidated estate she refused to care for. He enjoyed serving as an officer and spy for the Duke of Wellington, and approached the adventures with humor. Kate Rafferty had been sent to a girls' school after the tragic death of her parents in a house fire whilst living in India. Once she finished school, instead of a London Season, she found her mother's aunt to be her guardian and expected Kate to take care of her. The woman was a mean, old shrew who had run off almost all of her servants and had let her estate fall to ruin. When at last the woman died, Kate sensed freedom and hurried to London to take charge of her inheritance. When Jack returns to London for the Prince Regent's victory celebrations, he finds he has inherited a ward and his grandmother's estate. Neither wants to be saddled with the other, but the old lady means to manipulate them both from the grave . . . and they start to fall in love.