Tory Allen's father helped build Belmont, the Virginia horse farm that's always been her home. She was named for her mother's best friend, the English actress Victoria Lane. Orphaned in childhood, Tory was brought up as a horsewoman by her father's partner, Randall Ballard. Now she's the despair of Grandall's daughter-in-law, Sally: How can such a headstrong belle make any gentleman a proper wife? Sally's son Charles, an aspiring lawyer, is eager to find out. But everything changes when a fire destroys Belmont's second barn and nearly kills Grandall. The old man shocks the household by hiring a bearded stranger, Ned Finn, to train the hunters until he recovers. Both Charles and Tory suspect that Ned Finn is not who he seems. But as they seek to unmask him, their discoveries throw Belmont into an uproar which threatens to destroy it. Aided only by her instincts and some bits of Shakespeare, Tory must choose sides in the ensuing "battle of stallions." Can she trust either Charles Ballard or Ned Finn to help her save her home and her horses without breaking her heart?