Out of all the swains she collected, Miss Lily Ellsworth knew Mr. Gilbert Wright was the one she would choose in the end. Rich, well-connected, dashing, daring, he was exactly the sort of man to turn heads, even if he hadn’t much of one himself. Lily didn’t mind—a dim husband would be more easily controlled than a clever one. And after seeing how her father chose his several wives, Lily sometimes doubted clever men even existed.

There was the new curate of St. Eadburh’s, of course, but Mr. Simon Kenner might be altogether too clever for comfort. Where every other gentleman of Lily’s acquaintance thinks her an angel, Mr. Kenner shows an alarming tendency to catch her out. And where every other gentleman envies Mr. Wright’s favor with her, Mr. Kenner thinks his cousin is making a colossal mistake.

Between these two opponents, will either gain the whip hand, or will love defeat them both?