Tom Fulwood, the future Earl of Standish discovers at the age of fifteen that marriage can destroy a man. His mother prefers entertaining men in her bedroom, while her husband sits downstairs, unable or unwilling to respond to his wife's inappropriate behaviour. From that day on Tom vows that no woman will hurt him the way his mother hurt his father. Isabelle Crawford expected to find happiness in marriage when she came out in society. Reality was different to what she had imagined though, instead of love, she found fortune hunters and as a result left London to set up home in Bath. A potential marriage between Tom and Isabelle's brother and sister, throws the couple together. A chain of events sees Tom fighting for his life and Isabelle being kidnapped by the very man that Tom had found in his mother's bedchamber all those years ago. Both have to trust the other and work through their fears for love to stand a chance. Is either capable of taking such a chance?