Note: The speculative elements appear to be limited to a Flying Dutchman-like figure which the protagonist occasionally sees before he disappears. Further confirmation is needed. According to the Locus Index, the 1993 Tor edition restored the original text, which explains why it's 158 pages longer than the 1981 Jove edition.

Synopsis: Crossed Swords, Warring Passions - Miranda Hathaway - golden-haired, iron-willed. To save her lost brother, she will sail to the ends of the earth... even become a swashbuckling buccaneer. Following the strange course set by the mysterious Dutchman, a mystical sea captain, Miranda's quest will take her from Spanish galleons to perfumed harems, from the intrigue-rife ballrooms of Civil War London (English Civil War, not the American) to the steamy shores of primitive Barbados. Kit Steele - devilishly handsome Cavalier swordsman and sea captain. The idealistic adventurer who awakened Miranda's passions now would seek to win her heart... only after he had earned her blackest vengeance. Is he her truest friend in a world turned upside-down? Or has she no friends but pistol and sword. (from the back cover of the Tor Books edition)