Rhys Godfrey, Lord Vernon and Lady Beatrice Chalcroft, daughter to the Duke of Loring, had been betrothed since childhood in an arrangement made by their fathers. Unlike most arranged marriages, Vernon had loved Beatrice since the first time he saw her. The season they should have been married found the relationship severed by jealousy and pride. Beatrice was sent away from home to reform her spiteful behavior, and Vernon was hurt and determined to forgo love. Lord Vernon decides to move on with an unemotional marriage of convenience. Lady Beatrice finds herself reduced from a duke's daughter to a life of service in Scotland trying to learn the ways of the less privileged. Will the two find their way back together again? Or will Vernon choose another bride first? Will Beatrice be able to humble herself and reform her shrewish spoiled ways?
