This Regency romance begins with the Earl of Devenham returning home after 10 years of war to claim the hand of Mary Anstey, whose family spurned him when he was a young and untitled soldier. But Mary's sister Emily, an avid reader of romances, is determined that her sister shall not suffer a loveless marriage, and she vows to sacrifice herself instead. A drop of laudanum in Mary's chocolate on the morning of the wedding, a brown wig and a heavy veil, and a switch is accomplished at the altar, with Emily blithely assuming the marriage will be annulled as soon as the dupe is discovered. But the earl has his pride, and Emily is stuck in a marriage with a husband who detests her. Worse, she realizes that she is gradually falling in love with him.
