Adam Blake has become a friend to King George III, returned a hero from the impending war with the American Colonies, where he fell in love with the beautiful Lady Eleanor and disposed of his sworn enemy Charles Beaufort Duc De Montmerency and his sister. He's granted a commission in the 1st the Kings Dragoon Guards only to find himself once more before the King's Spymaster Viscount Barrington.

The fabulous Norfolk Emerald has been stolen by a Russian Count and Adam is sent to Russia with the British Ambassador to recover it.

Despite finding some romantic interludes with the Empress and a beautiful Countess Adam's seemingly simple mission turns decidedly dangerous when he has to follow the trail of the Emerald into the siege of Kazan and the Pugachev Rebellion. But his troubles are only about to start when he's captured by Tatar slave traders and taken to the Crimea.

His escape from captivity with the exotic Nadia and return to Russia to find the emerald only serve to have him accused of an attempted assassination of the Empress, become a fugitive beggar on the streets of Saint Petersburg and be thrown headlong into the dangerous intrigue of the Russian Court.

Will the Blake luck be with him and the friends and lovers he's made, as he encounters the Beggar King, the Red Duke and the powerful Count Panin. Will he survive, or will he have to run.