In 1818 London, fashionable society views Alexandra Sinclair as an outspoken bluestocking from a scandalous family. Then word gets out that she is about to receive a sizeable inheritance. Suddenly Alexandra has a flood of eager suitors, all displeased to learn that she intends to never marry. Instead she plans to use her fortune to reopen The Refuge, a home her beloved grandmother established for abused wives and their children.

Alexandra is surprised that her polite refusal of marriage proposals provokes such violent reactions. A would-be poet published vicious lies about her in a scandal sheet. A distant relative attempts to manipulate her into marriage by compromising her at a ball. During her walk in Hyde Park, a man in a dark cloak tries to run her down with his carriage. It seems a good time to leave town.

Accompanied by her reformer aunt, her cousin, and his handsome friend, Alexandra travels to Yorkshire to inspect The Refuge, which closed after her grandmother was murdered protecting a runaway wife from her enraged husband. Soon after they arrive, a coal miners’ strike brings chaos to the area. Her family insists Alexandra abandon her plans and flee for safety. She refuses to leave.

Adding to the danger is the reappearance of two of her rejected suitors. Having failed at conventional forms of courtship, they now move on to blackmail, battery, and kidnapping to try to coerce her into marriage. Alexandra is forced to fight for her independence–and her life.