Gilles Goelo is a young Breton bastard, and his religious mother dedicates him to the Church so as to pay for the sin of his conception (she won't even tell him his site's name). But once Gilles' teenage sensual passions are awakened by the sight of lovely young Judith de Sainte-Melaine skinny-dipping, he never looks back to Rome. When Judith is forced to flee her satanic brothers for a nunnery, Gilles is off to America to help the rebels with Lafayette. In the process he meets the founding fathers, gets various lessons in love (the most notable from Indian princess Sitapanoki), becomes a mighty warrior, exposes the Benedict Arnold plot, and even finds his own father dying after the Battle of Yorktown. The facial resemblance 'twixt sire and son makes the connection obvious to all, so Gilles returns to France with a title and an estate, only to find that his beloved Judith has been killed by her brothers--or has she? We will no doubt find out in the inevitable sequels to this galloping, gallumphing romance by the author of the Marianne and Catharine series.