A MAN IN LOVE ... On the shores of the Chesapeake, Nicholas Talbot scans the faces of the disembarking passengers for his beloved Alyssa, the beauty who sailed from England to Maryland Colony to be his bride and mistress of his plantation. But to his utter shock, he finds himself facing her older sister Kate, who announces that Alyssa has fallen in love with another man and that she has come to take her place. ... WITH THE WRONG WOMAN Kate tries bravely to conceal her humiliation at Nicholas's cruel rejection. Her own traitorous passion for her sister's fiance had won out when she was asked to travel to the Colonies in her sister's stead. Though the plight of Nicholas's orphaned nieces gives Kate a reason to stay, each day is an agonising torment of unrequited desire. Then, just as a fragile trust begins to grow between Nicholas and Kate, Alyssa arrives in America, ready to claim what is hers --- daring Kate to fight for the man and the love she refuses to surrender at any cost.