She is full of doubt. He has been created by confidence. Obstacles are naught but steppingstones to a future they are trying to deny.

Miss Cora Hasting—middle daughter of Baron Landover—is not happy. Having lived with reduced circumstances for a few years, she aspires to so much more than making her position as a companion to the elderly Mrs. Bromington. This is her lot, especially after being jilted at the altar, but when a handsome navy man—the very same man who left her years ago— captures her attention and makes an appearance, her malcontent doubles.

Captain Peregrine Wetherford has tried for the past three years to put his mistakes behind him. Decorated naval officer, left with scars and wounds for his service, he's made a passable living attending various social functions and accepting coin for speaking engagements. However, during one fateful evening when he accidentally runs into his former fiancée, his past and his future collide, and this time he refuses to run.