The plan was to run away from him, not right into his hands… For years, Millicent Westwood looked forward to the life that had been planned out for where she would travel, what she would do, when she would marry, and what place she might have in society (titled, of course). Even with the war and a mysterious decline in the prosperity of her family, she was sure everything would turn out as promised. But when the will of an eccentric relative proposes an arranged marriage for her (to a mere merchant!) with an enticing fortune attached to the union, her promised future takes a sudden and unwelcome veer off course. Vigorously urged by her mother and father to accept the arrangement, Millicent takes matters into her own hands, only to be waylaid by broken wheels, sick servants, snowstorms, and the very man she is running from. Alex Dearborn has worked for everything in his life and has vowed never to ask for any loans or favors. Hard knocks are a part of life, and he would not be bullied by his straightened circumstances into marrying a member of the very upper class he has loathed for years just for the sake of a fortune. But just as he thinks he has found his way free of the matter, the very woman with whom he wants nothing to do tumbles into the same inn as he, pickpocketed and stranded. Marooned by storms, Alex and Millicent must navigate their mutual dislike of one another, their close quarters giving each a reluctant view of the other’s real characters and giving them the choice to either follow their hearts or their prejudices.