The bitter rivalry between Sharpe and the ruthless Frenchman Colonel Leroux is brought to life against the vivid canvas of the Peninsular War.

Richard Sharpe is once again at war. But this time his enemy is a single man - the ruthless, sadistic Colonel Leroux. Sharpe's mission is to safeguard El Mirador, the spy whose network of agents is vital to the British victory.

So Sharpe must enter a new world of political and military intrigue. And in the unfamiliar surroundings of aristocratic Spanish society, his only guide is the beautiful Marquesa - a woman with her own secrets to conceal...