Laura Farley, the orphaned daughter of a parish priest, was raised by a kind benefactor who left her the Arden Manor estate upon her death with the condition that Laura must marry before she turned 21 - three weeks before the beginning of this story. Laura learns that the benefactor's son, Stirling Harlow, the dissolute Duke known as the Devil of Devonbrook, who has never visited his mother, plans to return and lay claim to his property. Laura, wanting to prevent Sterling from throwing her and her younger brother and sister out onto the street, literally prays to God to send her a man to marry. Her prayers are answered when the beautiful Sterling falls from his horse, and she finds him lying unconscious on the ground. She doesn't know who he is. Her kiss brings him to consciousness, but it turns out that he remembers nothing about himself, not even his name. Resourceful Laura convinces him that they are engaged. Can Laura get him to the altar before he discovers her deception? And what will Laura do when she realizes that the man she is about to marry is her sworn enemy?