“You cannot leave Reeves Hall again. Here you will remain.”

Recently widowed, Jane, Duchess of Coleford, has moved to an isolated part of Cornwall with her young daughter. There she meets her nearest neighbour, Brook Reeves, a man with a seemingly permanent scowl on his handsome face who soon makes it clear that he wants her gone. Despite his many offers to purchase the crumbling house she inherited from her late husband, she stubbornly insists on staying.

It is not long before the two become adversaries, both determined to ignore the attraction that has flared between them. Until one day, Jane ventures uninvited into his domain and sees things she must never tell the world about. There is only one solution. At Reeves Hall she must remain, his captive duchess.