After the young man who courted Suzanne Ballister unexpectedly married another, she became a kind of pariah and no longer expected anything good from either the Mann-Formsby family or from society as a whole. All the more surprising was the attention to her modest person from the elder brother of the flighty suitor.

David Mann-Formsby, Earl of Renminster, at first only wanted to correct the injustice in relation to the innocent girl. However, he soon discovered that the stupid loss of his brother turned into a godsend for himself.