The beautiful Aurora Hartnell has just left her Finishing School in Paris and returns home to Hadleigh Hall. It is Christmas Eve and she hears that an eligible bachelor, Lord Moreton, has moved into nearby Elton Hall. Aurora dreams that he is handsome, tall and exciting – until she meets him and finds that he is none of them. In no time Aurora has received an unwelcome proposal of marriage from Lord Moreton, but he appears to be strangely close to her intimidating stepmother, Lady Hartnell. Then the dashing Earl of Linford gallops into Aurora's life and after a visit to his dilapidated Castle she realises that she is falling in love with him. She tries to extricate herself from the clutches of Lord Moreton, but everything seems to be working against her and even her own father will not listen to her pleas for help. The beautiful Aurora is caught up in a cruel web of deception and lies from which she must escape at all costs. She manages to flee to Cornwall with her faithful maid Phyllis. But will she ever see the Earl again? Find out what happens next in this romantic tale by BARBARA CARTLAND.