He thought he would be marrying someone else. She never expected to marry at all… Thomas Ramsbury has the perfect woman to marry, but when it comes time to propose, she announces her engagement to another man. Heartbroken, Thomas resigns himself to an arranged marriage, for he no longer has the heart to hope for love. Born with a withered hand and prone to epileptic fits, Marianne Taylor has accepted the life of a spinster, as she is used to being in the background, ignored and rejected by her family. When she learns she is to marry a gentleman, she feels unprepared to be the mistress of his estate. Though their marriage starts unconventionally, the time together provides an opportunity for them to heal and for their romance to blossom. But when both their pasts threaten the peace they have created, will their relationship prove strong enough?