David, Lord Grayston, wakes up in a Crimean War hospital unable to move anything below his waist. Keeping him going through this ordeal is a chance meeting with Elena, a Balkan refugee who has been nursing wounded soldiers. To save her from the battlefield, David impulsively offers Elena a marriage-of-convenience. He promptly weds her, and then leaves her in England while seeking treatment abroad for his condition

After a challenging recovery, David returns to see if they can have a true marriage. Yet he finds Elena is not the woman he left behind; she has forged a life in London despite being an outsider. Although Elena's experiences of war have left her untrusting of men, the two eventually give in to an intense attraction. When the past returns to haunt Elena, they find that their marriage may have grown far beyond a marriage-of-convenience, if only Elena can let him in.