Having been left a rich young widow, Madelaine, Dowager Countess of Trent, is dismayed to find herself the target of every fortune hunter in London. In desperation she flees to her most far-flung house, Pengarron in Cornwall, only to find that her neighbor, the dashing Earl of Trevellyn, has been meddling in her household affairs. But meddling is not the worst of his transgressions and Madelaine soon begins to wonder if she will ever be able to trust him again. A difficult question, given that she's already well on her way to falling in love with him.