Ulysses Granger, Continental soldier assigned to assist Colonel Clark in the West, is present for the Battle of St. Louis in 1780. In the aftermath, his best friend goes missing. Granger tracks him to a homestead some distance from the village where a mystery unfolds surrounding the Spaniard who owns the property, the body of Granger's friend, and stack of letters to and from a woman promised to marry the Spaniard. Granger does not have time to investigate as he is called away with Clark's men to pursue British and Native American forces. Three years later, partly on assignment to be the local American in St. Louis, he returns to St. Louis and resumes his search for answers about his friend's death, the mysterious Spanish bride who is on her way, and the woman he encountered three years before. He uncovers a plot concerning stolen gold, treason, and the deception of lovers.