Penelope Ashford, Portia Cynster's younger sister, has grown up with every advantage: wealth, position, and beauty. Yet Penelope is anything but a pretty face in a satin gown. Forceful, willful, and blunt to a fault, she has for years devoted her considerable energy and intelligence to caring for the forgotten orphans of London's sooty and seamier streets.

But now her charges are mysteriously disappearing. Desperate, Penelope turns to the one man she knows who might help her: Barnaby Adair.

Handsome scion of a noble house, Adair has made a name for himself in certain circles where his powers of observation and deduction have seen him solve several serious and unsavory crimes within the town. His pedigree, relentless intelligence, and discretion make him a deadly avenger in an elegant guise. Despite his skills, or perhaps because of them, he makes Penelope distinctly uncomfortable, but the stakes are too grave.

Throwing caution to the wind, defying every rule for unmarried ladies, she appears on his doorstep late one night determined to recruit his talents. Barnaby is intrigued, both by her problem and her. Her bold beauty and undeniable brains make a striking contrast to the usual insipid misses. And as he's in dire need of an excuse to avoid said insipid misses, he accepts her challenge, never dreaming she and it will consume his every waking hour.