Unpleasant experience has given Miss Cecilia Rowland a strong aversion to rakes, even one so fascinating and gentlemanlike as Lord Ravenshill.

She does her best to ignore his existence, but Fate keeps bringing them together. Even deep in the country, visiting the home of her mother's betrothed husband, Cecilia finds herself in the company of Lord Ravenshill. Not only is he a neighbor of Mr. Clarke's, but Cecilia's stepsister-to-be, Kitty, develops a tendre toward Mr. Guy Dorne, Ravenshill's best friend.

The Viscount Ravenshill is not the sort of man to regret his past, even when he finds himself unaccountably fascinated by the lovely Miss Rowland. He looks on his friend Guy's growing attachment to Kitty Clarke with amusement and resolutely ignores the promptings of his own traitorous heart.

The grim past which made him a ruthless rake also makes him a completely unsuitable match for an innocent girl like Cecilia Rowland.

But when Cecilia and Kitty go to London for the Season, the same Fate that threw Cecilia toward Ravenshill takes an unexpected twist that endangers the loves of both girls.