Melisande Godfrey had had a grudge against Andre Lubeck since her childhood, and she had longed to be revenged on him for years. Now her chance had come. Her method was to force him to marry her -- and the terms were such that he had no alternative but to agree.

But Melisande had never paused to think what her life would be once she had married Andre: certainly she had never expected to fall in love with him. Just how deeply she had fallen in love she had never realized until his old love, Nina Spacy, turned up. And why shouldn't Andre encourage Nina, when he felt nothing for his own wife but contempt ??