The pompous laughter of Baron William Hargreaves assaults her ears. I say, where did you find such a dress, or should I say mess? I thought even in America one would know such a garish garment would be ridiculed. His hand drifts to the immaculate cravat at his throat as he sneers at her, one supercilious eyebrow raised. Caroline Burgess despairs of her attraction to a man who ridicules her at every turn. A beautiful man who belongs to her only in the dreams he inspires. No matter what viciousness he throws at her, Caroline recognizes the longing in his eyes, matched with a secret longing of her own. Baron Hargreaves tries to hide his growing attraction to the beautiful blonde American, rumored to be wealthier than the Queen herself. It would never do for him to attach himself to an American, much less an actress. An actress! He would never survive the scandal. But William is caught up in his own appalling disgrace at the revelation of a product of a youthful indiscretion. The only way to rescue his son from a life of poverty and raise him as a Hargreaves is to marry the child’s mother, even though he cannot stand the sight of her. Just as William begins to understand who he is and find the answers he has searched for, Caroline shoots a man to death in full daylight on a London street. With the remains of her reputation in shreds she boards a ship for America, effectively putting an ocean between herself and the man she can never have. When a sudden twist in his extraordinary life offers William one last chance at the one woman he cannot live without, he goes to Caroline-only to find her in the arms of another man.