Marcus Sherbrook is an almost perfect gentleman -- reliable, trustworthy and dignified. The one blight on his reputation is the rebellion of Isabel Dunham, who at the age of seventeen, defied his guardianship, eloped and fled to India. Ten years later, the widowed Isabel returns to England. Marcus is enchanted with her, though being the proper gentleman, he would never let her know. But when Isabel is threatened by the schemes of a blackmailer, Marcus immediately takes action to protect her, through another spontaneous marriage. But now, the embers of desire -- never before acknowledged -- can no longer be denied.