When Jock Calder's orphaned cousin Edie arrives to stay with his family, both he and his friend Jim Horscroft quickly lose their hearts to her. As the year turns, and the Allies march into Paris, it seems the great shadow of Napoleon will no longer menace Europe. Then Bonaventure de Lapp appears on the shore, claiming to be the survivor of a shipwreck. The Calders take him in - only to discover that Edie has married him in secret. As Jock and Jim reel from the revelation, further devastating news arrives - Napoleon has broken free from his exile, and Jock and Jim must march to the field of Waterloo...