At age 15, Emilia Gwendolyn Carrington accidentally overhears the 15 year old Vander Brody, the future Duke of Pindar, laughing with friends about Emilia and calling her a ‘dumpy charity case.’ When they are briefly alone, she confronts him and tells him she would marry any man in the world before him. Thirteen years later Mia finds herself in changed circumstances and unexpectedly goes to the manor of Evander Septimus Body, now the Duke of Pindar. Confronting him with devastating blackmail, she demands he marry her. Angry, but trapped, Vander agrees, but with his own rules.