Paris 1938. Nicholas Morath former Hungarian cavalry officer returns home to his young mistress in the 7th arrondissement. Hes been in Vienna where amid the mobs screaming for Hitler hes done a quiet favour for his uncle Count Janos Polanyi. Polanyi is a diplomat & desperate to stop his countrys drift into alliance with Nazi Germany he trades in conspiracy
- with SS renegades Abwehr officers British spies & NKVD defectors leading Morath deeper & deeper into danger as Europe edges towards war.