The scene lies chiefly in Portugal in the year 1812, and the characters are chiefly British officers, and their female relatives, one of whom, Lady Mabel Stewart, daughter of Lord Strathern, fresh from Scotland, is the heroine; while a certain l'Isle, a Spaniard, figures as the hero. The book is dependent for its interest on the lovemaking of those described, and the jealousies which arise.