Sophia Worthington has a secret admirer. One evening at a ball, her father informs her of a suitor that she is to meet. When a very handsome and humorous young man named Mr. Nightingale asks her to dance, she finds herself delighted at the choice her father made. After a blissful evening, she leaves convinced that her future is set. When a letter arrives at her home for her father, she becomes overcome with joy at the reappearance of her dance partner...

Life had never been particularly kind to Annie Ramsey. She was poor, uneducated, and without any prospects except misery and pain at the hands of her brother, or whomever he decides she ought to marry. Duncan Bray could not resist the urge to help the young woman he found in the wintery chill of Yorkshire, feeling driven to save her from the dismal life she lived.