1840. Miranda Jarvis would do anything to protect her sister - so when Lucy comes down with a fever, she thinks nothing of stealing a loaf of bread from a local landowner. After all, things can't get much worse. Miranda doesn't count on being nearly brained by the cook's rolling pin... but nor does she count on the house's owner himself. The respectable shipowner Sir James, known for his philanthropy, takes a keen interest in Miranda and her sister. But Sir James has quarrelled with his nephew, the rakish smuggler Fletcher Taunt, and - little does she know - the hatred between the two men will change Miranda's life forever...