Lady Amalia Gallagher, daughter of the Duke of Thornhill, is terrified.

Having already lost her only brother to illness, and with her ailing father knocking on death's door, she finds herself under tremendous pressure to find a suitable husband. When a new suitor appears asking for her hand in marriage, she realizes that as her time runs out, so do her choices.

Reginald Davidson, Marquess of Lyonhall, has made a vow to protect Amalia at all costs, even if it means never confessing his true feelings for her.

But bad things come in threes. As her father's health grows worse by the second, Reginald suddenly goes missing, and in the manor's study, there's a pistol with her name on it…