1800: Forced on land for leave George Abercrombie Fox finds that female company more than compensates for the loss of the sea. Particularly the company of Jenny Blane, at one time the victim of a hold-up by highwayman Fox.
The magic lasts until he sees a tall slim woman across a gaming room. Soon a shadow half-remembered from his past is haunting him. It is only the return to sea, with his own command, that helps him substitute one old love for another."