One man with a secret. A family torn apart by the consequences.

Mr Bertram Atherton has one foot in the Ancient World, emerging from his library only to eat and sleep. But when the chaplain of his uncle, the Earl of Rennington, is brutally murdered, it is revealed that he was never ordained and so the earl's marriage was invalid, and his children rendered illegitimate. Bertram's father is now the heir to the earldom, and Bertram after him. It's a horrifying change of circumstances for a man only interested in intellectual pursuits.

Miss Beatrice Franklyn is shocked to discover that her betrothed, the earl's eldest son, has been disinherited and can't make her a countess. But his cousin Bertram will inherit now, and he'll do, won't he? Bea sets her sights on a second betrothal, and she usually gets her way. How can unworldly Bertram resist her feminine wiles? But no matter how many tricks she tries and how determined she is to lure him into matrimony, she finds that Bertram is equally determined not to be lured. Which of them will win the battle of wills?

One man with a secret. A family torn apart by the consequences.

The Earl of Rennington's daughter, Lady Isabel, has done well for herself. Married for five years to an indulgent viscount, with two small daughters, she lives her life in the centre of a social whirl, respected and admired for her beauty, her elegance and her liveliness. But her liveliness sometimes spills over into stormy rows with her staid husband, and she grieves that she's failed in her primary duty　to provide him with an heir. Her marriage isn't quite what she'd hoped for. So when disaster cuts her adrift, she wonders what her life might have been like, had she made a different choice.

Ian, Viscount Farramont, is a down-to-earth man, but he's adored Izzy since the moment he first saw her. He won her hand against tough competition, and when he fears he might lose her for good, he sets out to do whatever it takes to win her back. But even if he succeeds, can he ever win her heart, or is he just too dull to inspire love in his vivacious wife?