1815. Cassandra Hazeldon is on the run. Under duress to marry a repellent friend of her uncle, she makes her escape with the aid of a weighty bronze figure. However, she is now penniless and very much alone. Only thinking of the present, Cassandra inveigles herself into a grand mansion in London's Mayfair. Lord Irlam, or Hal to his friends, returns home drunk to find Cassandra fast asleep in his library. The orphaned heiress confides in Hal and he promises to help her, to do the right thing, though their powerful mutual attraction is prompting other ideas ...

Hal passes Cassandra off as a friend of his sister in the social whirl of Brighton, but as the summer stretches before them, things begin to unfold that will change the course of their futures forever.