To ensure the succession of the Helford family line, it's imperative that David Melville, Viscount Helford should marry -- and soon! He's determined to choose a wife of nobility and decorum as a matter of convenience -- until his resolve is shaken to the core by the independent and fiery Miss Marsden.

Sophie's plain beauty, forthrightness and virtually penniless state are nothing Viscount Helford desires in a wife. But she stirs a passion in him he cannot resist. The solution seems easy, but to take her as his mistress would tarnish her good name -- something he knows she can't afford to lose. But can he afford to lose her?