Summer, 1870. On the banks of the Rhine, war is in the air, and so is love.

Charlie Pierrepont, a young English officer in the Prussian army, is invited by his comrade to the ancient castle of Frankenburg. There he falls hopelessly in love with Ernestine, the dark-haired Countess who delights in legends of ghosts and the unseen world. But a proud family, a wealthy rival and the approaching war with France conspire to tear the lovers apart. On the eve of his departure, in a quiet village church, they swear to be faithful 'for life and death.'

As the armies march and the guns thunder, that solemn promise will be tested in ways neither of them could have imagined.

Part Victorian romance, part war story, part ghost tale, The Dead Tryst by James Grant, author of The Romance of War, is a haunting reminder that some vows are not easily broken.