The Golden Maid

Deal, Kent, 1812

Eighteen-year-old Winnie Lennicker yearns for a peaceful life as a respectable married woman. However, following the death of their father, Winnie and her sisters become involved in the family's free-trading operations -- carrying and hiding contraband -- where they are at risk of arrest by the Revenue, or worse.

When Winnie is caught and sent before the magistrates, she is forced to confess that she is with child. Now more than ever, she is determined to give up smuggling, but the only way she can support herself and her unborn child is to carry on.

An opportunity presents itself to carry despatches on behalf of British agents and spies, and gold for Wellesley's army. Needing the money, Winnie can't afford to refuse, but the journey across the channel is treacherous. Soon she discovers the despatches she's carrying aren't what they seem, and she's determined to right the wrongs in the hope of achieving her dream and leaving the free trade behind for good.