Since the deaths of their parents five years earlier, Madeline and her brother Thomas have never been parted-until their aunt decides to set Madeline up as a governess in another household. Desperate to find a way to stay with her brother, Madeline learns of an opportunity in York that seems like the perfect solution, so she and Thomas run away.
Arthur Vanguard has no idea that the M. Crawford who answered his advertisement for a tutor was a woman, until she shows up on his doorstep with her eight-year-old brother in tow. Angry and annoyed, Arthur grudgingly agrees to give her the position, but only temporarily.
As she begins tutoring his young son, the conflict between Arthur and Madeline grows. Headstrong and tenacious, she is nothing at all like his late wife, and he is determined to keep her at arm's length. But the longer she remains, the weaker his defenses become. Can Arthur learn to open his heart again, or will an unexpected visitor part them forever?