It is August 1810 and, after long months spent patrolling the bleak southern border between Spain and Portugal, Sharpe and the South Essex Regiment have finally been summoned north by Wellington. There Sharpe embarks on a desperate mission. He must recover the treasure, vital to the success of the war, now hidden behind enemy lines. The gold is in the possession of a powerful guerrilla leader, feared by ally and enemy alike. And he has no love for Sharpe, the man who has stolen his woman. But Sharpes fiercest battles lie with the British officers, ignorant of his deadly secret and mistrustful of his ruthless methods.