Spring in Vorbarr Sultana sends its inhabitants looking for love, which too often proves to be unrequited.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: One cunning plan too many? It's spring in Vorbarr Sultana, and a young person's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love ...money ...bio-genetics ...love ...lack of money ...incompatible planetary sexual mores ...love ...District succession scandals ...the Emperor's wedding ...and, of course, love ...Lord Miles Vorkosigan, youngest Imperial Auditor to be appointed by the Emperor since the Time of Isolation, has a problem all his new power can't solve: unrequited love for the beautiful Vor widow Ekaterin Vorsoisson. Ekaterin is violently allergic to marriage as a result of her first exposure. But as Miles learned from his late career in galactic covert ops, if a frontal assault won't do, go to subterfuge. He has a cunning plan ...Lord Mark Vorkosigan has a problem: his love for the sunny Kareen, daughter of Commodore Koudelka, has just become unrequited again. But if all his new money can't solve their dilemma, perhaps a judicious blending of science and entrepreneurial scheming might. He has a cunning plan...'It's another winner with all kinds of unexpected adventures ...Georgette Heyer has met her match for intrigue and Style! A sprightly conducted romance with twists and turns that could only happen in a Vorkosigan-inspired novel...Boy, can she write' - Anne McCaffrey.

This volume offers a summary of the key issues of the 1884 campaign.