Arabella Gordon had not been welcomed by her stuffy and snobbish British relatives when she arrived from Australia to be rapidly polished for her presentation to society. She was not yet eighteen; her behavior was undoubtedly hoydenish; and, worst of all, she seemed to have a remarkable effect on every eligible young bachelor for miles around. Aunt Honoria despaired; Cousin Grizelda sneered. But Arabella's friends--Mariota Seaton, always listening dreamily to "fairy music," and her three chief admirers, Geoffrey Nicholls, Rupert Fraser, and Peter McCallum, as well as poor Jean Hannay--welcomed her back. The Marquess of Gard, however, remained totally aloof; until, that is, he and Arabella were forced into an extraordinary confrontation on the very night of her coming-out dance. Their first unfortunate encounter, years before, had been by the Falls of Gard--now, history repeated itself in a far more devastating way. For Arabella was soon to learn that, after the night spent by the Falls of Gard, nothing would ever be the same for her again.