Can love overcome misconceptions?
After a disastrous Season of 1812, Thomas Thornburn, the third Marquess of Bath, returns to Town determined to make a match, but can find no lady who meets his requirements. Disheartened, he follows the advice of a friend and crosses paths with Teresa, who he believes is waiting for a love match.
At twenty-eight years old, Lady Teresa Palhem is fully on the shelf, which is exactly where she wants to be. Her dearest hope is to live the rest of her life in a cottage with enough books to keep her company. But such a dream doesn't dissuade the imperious Lord Bath, and despite her reservations, she falls into the parson's mousetrap.
Caught together in a compromising situation, Thomas and Teresa are forced into a marriage of misconceptions until the reason she remained a spinster is revealed and then he will stop at nothing to win her love.