Alec Mackenzie lives in exile as a painting teacher, a false identity he uses while searching for his missing brother.

Lady Celia, a young Englishwoman who stubbornly refuses to marry the gentlemen her strict mother chooses for her, is sent to Alec to take lessons and learn at least one useful skill.

Alec decides that the courageous Celia should broaden her range of artistic abilities by painting human nature. Celia's interest is piqued by the man who lies about his name and origin. He is Scottish, she concludes, but he cannot be one of the wild Highlanders who recently rose against the crown, otherwise, he would already be a prisoner or dead.

As Celia lets her curiosity guide her, she discovers more about Alec and learns his name and title. Above all, she confronts the truth about his origin. She understands Alec's loneliness, the sense of loss that overwhelms him, the tenderness he shows towards his daughter, and realizes that he is a man trying to live while his homeland has been destroyed.

One question, however, remains tormenting: If Alec is in mortal danger in England, why has he come? When the dangerous secret is revealed, the flames of war will reignite.