Sarah Dagley continues to manage her impoverished family’s affairs following the death of her wastrel father. Her uncle, worried about the family’s future, is encouraged when a wealthy acquaintance, Lord Wilberton, a widower, expresses interest in marrying her. Sarah is unsure about marrying someone she barely knows, but persuaded that they are not completely incompatible, she agrees to be his wife. Married life though faces some obstacles, not least his lordship’s glamorous but petulant cousin who thinks Wilberton should be hers instead, as well as the unspoken mystery surrounding the death of his first wife.