It is August 1811. George, Prince of Wales has his own reasons for welcoming time-traveller Tam Eildor to the Royal Pavilion. His latest mistress, Sarah, Marchioness of Creeve, has been murdered in his bed, strangled with her own string of pearls. Newly created Prince Regent, George realises that a sordid royal scandal must be avoided at all costs, so he enlists the services of Tam Eildor. In his assumed role of a Scottish lawyer, sole survivor of a shipwreck off the Brighton coast, Tam must find the killer and thief who has also made off with the historic Stuart Sapphire. Tam's disposal of the body of the murdered Marchioness is interrupted by an attempt on his life in a prearranged carriage accident. But coping with a double investigation is the least of his worries: fifteen-year-old Princess Charlotte has taken a fancy to their Scottish visitor and isn't afraid to let her feelings show. Amidst a cast of royally quirky and entertaining characters and as always in constant danger, Tam needs to solve the mystery and return to his own century, outwitting the sinister forces which seem determined for him not to survive this particular time-quest.