In 1605, King James I sat on the thrones of England and Scotland. A group of men, led by Robert Catesby, planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London to kill King James, Queen Anne, their children, and all the lords of England. The plotters were Catholics in a time when, at best, Catholics were fined into poverty, and at worst, they were burned at the stake. William Cranmore is one of those men. Lark Alleyne, who started his working life at court, has been recruited as a spy and is put under the direction of Cranmore, who is to teach him the sword as well as the craft of spying. During the course of their work, Cranmore, a man who has never loved anyone, falls deeply in love with the sweet natured, overtly loving younger man. Can William and Lark foil the Gunpowder Plot before the king and his family are murdered?