England, 1814. Edith Hapgood only has eyes for art. As the darling pride of her family, she has been encouraged in her passion for painting, making it easy for her to overlook other objects of affection. But her distant cousin, one of her chief friends and companions from the age of eleven, has no intention of being forgotten as the creative world opens to her.

Lionel Hapgood has long struggled to keep his feelings for Edith secret and his head down while he finishes his degree and she pursues her artistic studies. But an ardent young man can only stand so much, and when he impulsively declares himself, he loses what he has so carefully built.

As Edith grows as an artist, her own brush has something to teach her as well. Her portrait of Lionel, captured on the fateful day he spoke his love, not only attracts admiration and danger, but reveals to her the true state of her feelings. When it goes missing, so does a piece of her heart.

Will the loss of her celebrated portrait lead to the loss of the one she learns to hold even dearer?