Plain and intelligent heiress Beatrice Chaswell could hardly believe her luck when the incredibly handsome and kindly Earl of Faulconer, Gabriel Baxtor, actually began to court her. And in no time at all, the dashing earl had won Beatrice's heart. But Beatrice's joy soon turns to ashes when she discovers on her wedding day that Gabriel is actually a fortune hunter, and that he has married her solely for her fortune. Angry and bitter, Beatrice turns against Gabriel, treating him with a coldness and disdain totally foreign to her warm nature.