A poor widow, Lady Charlotte Collins returns to England to take her place in the ton, only to find herself shunned by all. Her one choice is to marry a groom with wealth, a title, and good looks, but Alasdair McGregor cruelly refuses to be the answer to her problems. In fact, she is forced by Dare's obstinacy to take extreme action: the faulty codpiece that leads to their marriage, the wedding that is literally a circus. But nothing can stand between what she wants most: the love of her husband.