Nora Langley, a merchant's daughter, married into the Ashbourne family and helped her husband rise to power — only to be met with cold neglect. Two years into their marriage, it had never been consummated. Her husband, desperate to secure a higher title by any means, decided to cast her aside. So she made a choice: she would find herself another husband. That husband turned out to be her husband's elder brother, Rowan Ashbourne — the heir to the marquessate. Outwardly frail and patient, Rowan was in truth a decisive and ruthless man. He had also publicly exposed his own unfaithful wife. Together, Nora and Rowan broke free from their respective cages and, in each other, finally found true love.