In the early days of England's war against Revolutionary France, Captain Edward Trewin is one of the nation's most successful naval officers, but his private life is falling apart. His wife Julia, who bitterly resented his eagerness to sail to war, has not answered any of his letters for more than a year.

Dispirited, Edward sails his battle-scarred frigate directly for the dockyard in Portsmouth, bypassing his home in Cornwall. He faces a lonely existence ashore for months on end while his ship is made ready for service, but an unplanned encounter results in a very different challenge-temptation. While staying with a friend, Edward finds himself gradually drawn to his host's capable but neglected daughter Caroline. What transpires in Portsmouth changes everything. How will Edward and two very different yet remarkable women resolve a tangle of love, honor, and duty?