The petite Lady Margery Quennell at age twenty-three has graced the rows of wallflowers for many a Season. Except for Charles, the Marquess of Edgecombe, the only man who ever danced with her, Lady Margery has nothing to do with men; what's more, she does not even like Charles, Marquess of Edgecombe.

Bored beyond words, she firmly decides this to be the end of it and returns to the comfort of her only love, Chelmswood, her home. But comfort she does not find. For her once-handsome, middle-aged father has taken himself a dim-witted brat of nineteen as his bride.

Forced into virtual bankruptcy by his child-wife's lust for luxury, Margery's father decides to sell Chelmswood. But Margery will not hear of it and launches an all-out, military-like campaign to ensnare herself a wealthy husband and save her ancestral home.

Everything seems to be going well with three proposals of marriage -- only to find that the head cannot always rule the heart. Until the unforeseen intervention of Charles sabotages her plan, only to give her a run for her money... and his!