If only he could find a lady who was tall enough to meet his eyes, intelligent enough not to bore him and had that certain something that meant he could imagine spending the rest of his life with her.

As Sir Julian Loring returns to his father's home, he never dreams that 'that lady' could be Rosa Fancourt, his half-sister Chloe's governess. Rosa is no longer the gawky girl fresh from a Bath Academy whom he first met ten years ago. Today, she intrigues him. Just as they begin to draw closer, she disappears--in very dubious circumstances. Julian cannot bring himself to believe the worst of Rosa but if she is blameless, the real truth could be even more shocking, with far-reaching repercussions for his own family, especially for Chloe.

Driven by her concern for Chloe, Rosa accepts an invitation to spend some weeks at Castle Swanmere, home of Julian's maternal grandfather. The widowed Meg Overton has also been invited and she is determined not to let the extremely eligible Julian slip through her fingers again.

When a ghost from Rosa's past returns to haunt her, and Meg discredits Rosa publicly, Julian must decide where his loyalties lie.