I HAVE BEEN PERSUADED NOW TO TAKE MY PEN IN HAND AND TELL THE STORY AS IT SHOULD BE TOLD ... In the autumn of 1707, old enemies from the Scottish Highlands to the Borderlands are finding common ground as they join to protest the new Union with England. An invasion is imminent as many plot to bring the exiled young Jacobite king back to Scotland to reclaim his throne, and in Edinburgh, the streets are filled with discontent and danger. Queen Anne, seeking to calm the situation, has sent money up from London for Scots who took part eight years earlier in the ill-fated Darien expedition that left Scotland all but bankrupt. A young widow comes forward to collect her husband's portion of this money, but her claim is dubious. The man assigned to investigate now has to determine if she's telling the truth, or if his own troublesome feelings are blinding and misleading him. It's not only a matter of justice, but of lost love and a nation betrayed.