Gawain Burton, the Duke of Bromleigh, is a Silver Duke, and everyone in the ton knows these exceptionally handsome forty-something men with some gray salted in their hair have no intention of ever marrying. However, carrying on the Bromleigh title is important, and Gawain is determined to find a proper wife for his nephew and heir. Lady Cherish Northam is intelligent, soft-spoken, has a lovely sense of humor, and is beautiful. The only problem is that she is shy, and Gawain must help her overcome that shyness and put herself forward so that his nephew notices her. Gawain certainly has noticed her...and, dear heaven, she seems to be noticing him. Will his heart allow him to give up Cherish?

Lady Cherish Northam's life has taken a turn for the worse after the death of her parents. Her uncle, the new Earl of Northam, is a toad who means to keep her on as unpaid help. So when her friend and neighbor, Lady Shoreham, invites her to her house party, Cherish leaps at the chance. She needs to marry to claim the trust fund inheritance her father left in the control of her uncle, but what seems a simple decision becomes quite complicated when she falls in love with Gawain. He is a Silver Duke and everyone knows these gorgeous-as-sin dukes do not marry. Can she harden her heart and marry his nephew? She doesn't think so. Can she possibly win Gawain's heart?