A dashing young gentleman with a piece of paper denoting a vast sum of money turns up in New York in 1746. He may be genuine, he may be a fraud, but he is clearly playing a game of his own. New York, however, is not a placid pond where a cunning rogue and/or hero can send ripples where he will, but a small town full of games and passions of its own which pose all sorts of risks to a gentleman so sure of the secret rules of his own game, he forgets to account for the rules of others.

Mystery, romance, adventure, tragedy all crowd around this sharp, delightful tale. An old fashioned tale told full of old-fashioned concerns and sensibilities, but with a modern eye to the dramatic possibilities.