Although many assumed that lovely widow Marianne Hughes would marry again, she has no desire to do so and is content with her independent single state. But her status as a respectable widow makes her an ideal chaperone, so she reluctantly agrees to guide the beautiful Louisa Crookshanks in her first London season. She never imagines that soon she and Louisa will be rivals for the same enigmatic gentleman.
 
John, Marquess of Gillingham had been a recluse since smallpox had left him scarred, too proud to be the object of pitiful stares. But the need for an heir has forced him to London to seek a bride. One golden beauty catches his eye, but it is her elegant chaperone who keeps his attention. Soon he finds himself entangled in a web of desire and deception, but someone else is spinning a web of danger around them all, and threatens to destroy all John and Marianne hold dear, including each other.