Young Sarah Patterson understood perfectly well that the daughter of a rootless merchant had no place in the aristocratic salons of London, and she looked forward with horror to the day when she would go down the aisle with the high-born Duke of Cheviot, a man from whom she could only expect cold contempt. However, the painful wait turned out for Sarah to be the highest joy that fate can give a woman. For in the arms of the courageous Duke she was to experience the true delight of love - burningly passionate and painfully tender love, love that overcomes all obstacles in its path.