Miss Mariah Aubrey, banished after a scandal, hides herself away in a
long-abandoned gatehouse on the far edge of a distant relative's estate.
There, she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows
how--by writing novels in secret.
Captain Matthew Bryant, returning to England successful and wealthy
after the Napoleonic wars, leases an impressive estate from a cash-poor
nobleman, determined to show the society beauty who once rejected him
what a colossal mistake she made. When he discovers an old gatehouse on
the property, he is immediately intrigued by its striking young
inhabitant and sets out to uncover her identity, and her past. But the
more he learns about her, the more he realizes he must distance himself.
Falling in love with an outcast would ruin his well-laid plans.
The old gatehouse holds secrets of its own. Can Mariah and Captain
Bryant uncover them before the cunning heir to the estate buries them
forever?