Young Hayley Albright has come to terms with the idea that she, as the eldest in the family, will have to sacrifice herself in order to raise her orphaned brothers and sisters. But could anyone forbid her to at least dream of her own happiness? And one day her dream came true, for the courageous Lord Stephen Barrett, who for many years had been hiding his secret thirst for true love under the guise of cold cynicism, having met Hayley, realized at first sight that he could not live without her. And now he must conquer her at any cost - at the cost of cunning deception or mortal danger...