"What a shame," they whispered. "Poor Margaret Terrell, so young, so beautiful. A widow with everything but money. What's to become of her now?" But Margaret was preoccupied by more than mere finance. Anabelle Herenford, runaway heiress, was on her doorstep, begging for sympathy and shelter from a hated aunt -- and an unwanted marriage!

First, there was the risk of imprisonment for hiding Anabelle; then, the risk of exposure by the arrogant Marcus Salterson, who came to claim his niece -- and to torment Margaret, the only woman who had ever told him "No!" Marcus, the richest peer in the realm, was accustomed to getting what he wanted when he wanted it. Once she opened the door of her home to him, could Margaret keep him out of her heart?