1787. Captain Edward Brazier is on a mission: recently paid off from
his frigate and comfortably off with prize money, he is headed to Deal
to propose marriage to the young and lovely widow Betsey Langridge. He
must navigate the bustle of the town's narrow streets that are busy with
legal, illicit and
depraved business flowing from and around the ships at dock. But all
does not go well; between Betsy's brother and guardian Henry Tulkington
prohibiting the match, and Brazier marked out for trouble by a local
smuggling gang, his plans
are in disarray. And when it slowly emerges that there may have been a
decades old injustice closer to home, Brazier is caught up in more than
he'd bargained for.