Marshall Ross, Earl of Lorne, was a highly decorated diplomat with a terrible secret. His last mission to China failed abysmally and led to the deaths of twenty-six of his men. He can't forgive himself even now. Even though he had little choice as a prisoner of the Chinese, he also feels a deep shame for allowing himself to become addicted to opium. Opium is the reason for his hallucinations, for the visions that plague him and for his deeply held belief that he is going mad. Not exactly the right time to become a bridegroom. But he has an obligation to marry before his condition becomes worse, and he does, to an unlikely bride: a twenty-seven year old stranger, the daughter of his uncle's mistress. His uncle's mistress, however, is not all she appears to be.Theresa Robertson is Davina's aunt, and determined to provide for her niece. Almost as determined as she is to see Garrow Ross hang for his crimes. What began as a marriage of convenience between Marshall and Davina soon becomes a battle of wits and will as Davina McLaren decides that she wants more from marriage than Marshall wants to give. She hadn't wanted to marry, after all, but who would have known that such a union would bring her a mystifying, magnetic sort of husband, one who introduces her to passion with such skill?Although his habit of disappearing at night was disconcerting, she didn't believe that Marshall was insane. If he was mad, he was the kindest, most gentle, madman she'd ever met. Something, however, was going on at Ambrose. The mystery deepens as Marshall's hallucinations become more terrifying. When Marshall pushes Davina away for the last time, she leaves him, returning to Edinburgh with hopes that he'll follow her. Instead, Marshall is taken away to a private asylum, leaving Davina no choice but to mount a siege against the Black Castle to rescue her husband. Davina succeeds in her mission, Marshall is cured of his visions, and the mystery of why he believed himself going mad is solved.