Phillip Delemere is weary of London life, and of Elise, the spoiled debutante he has been courting. He has decided to move to Cornwall for a more peaceful existence. When he unexpectedly meets Elise's beautiful but impoverished cousin, Bethany, he expects to dismiss her. However, his brain and heart will not cooperate. Bethany has never been in love before. But one night in a moonlit rose garden, she discovers what it is like to be in the arms of a man she desires but can never have. He belongs to another and is destined to become a viscount, while she is merely the orphaned daughter of a lowly vicar.