[1] During a stay in the planet Komarr, Captain Ivan Vorpatril is recruited by Byerly Vorrutyer, an undercover agent of Imperial Security, to find out the identity of a young woman named Tej, connected to his investigation, who he believes may be in danger.

A few days later, while the police force their way into his apartment, Ivan hastily marries Tej and hires Rish as her employee to give them legal protection.

Tej reveals that she is the youngest daughter of Baron Cordonah from Jackson's Whole, a planet based on laissez-faire free market economics where what would be crimes elsewhere abound.

The scheme falls apart when the smuggler the baron had hired to transport the treasure trove proves to be more interested in the bounty on the family, and in the confrontation a long-forgotten buried bomb explodes, trapping them all in the bunker.

Barrayaran Imperial forces rescue them and secure the bunker and its contents, but the foundations of ImpSec Headquarters are compromised and the building sinks several levels below ground.

To avoid the scandal of the attempted theft, Byerly is exiled to Jackson's Whole with the Cordonahs, while Ivan is assigned as a diplomatic aide to planet Ylla.

[2] At Tor.com, Jo Walton described it as "adorable as a whole", "deeply readable and tons of fun", and "also a really remarkably good science fiction novel", comparing it to Georgette Heyer's Cotillion,[3] while at Locus Online, Paul Di Filippo compared it to a Gilbert and Sullivan farce, and to a "lighthearted and absurd" version of the works of C. J. Cherryh, complimenting Bujold's execution in alternating the viewpoint between Ivan and Tej.