The Toll Gate

Who's who at The Toll-Gate

She is:

Nell Stornaway, granddaughter of Sir Peter Stornaway, squire of the village. Herself affectionately known as the Squire because of her self-sufficiency and competence, she is far, far more feminine than the appellation suggests.

He is:

Capt. John Staple, recently retired from the Dragoon Guards, as much a confirmed bachelor as a confirmed adventurer. Bored with the idle ways of the idle rich, he has disguised himself and taken on the menial job of keeper of the turnpike toll-gate.

They are:

destined to meet one another, as the last minute of spring is destined to meet the first :minute of summer-to cross paths, swords and wits. Before John's true identity is discovered, Cupid finds the going as hilly and rough as the rural English countryside; a lover's patience is taxed to the breaking point; and a villain gets his just desserts.