Miss Emma Pearson lives the most remarkable life for the daughter of a constable. Because of her brother's heroics in Scotland, she has astonishingly become the ward of the Marquess of Downshire. Now, she wears only the finest clothes and mingles with members of high Society. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned when a series of accidents causes her Season to be ruined before it has even begun.

Simeon Martin, the Viscount of Wentworth, despises most people. He is content working alone as a Bow Street Runner despite his sizeable fortune, finding solace in tracking down criminals. But all that changes when Lord Downshire hires him to protect his ward from a jilted suitor. Everything about the situation urges him to refuse, but his sense of curiosity is piqued, and his sense of honor compels him to help her, forcing him to deal with the one thing that he truly hates: a spoiled debutante.

With danger lurking around every corner, Emma and Simeon must learn to trust each other when they are both swept up in the rising Anti-Corn Law movement. Despite their frustration with each other, they both reluctantly discover that working together isn't as unbearable as they had previously thought. And as their budding friendship turns into something more, can they trust each other with their hearts?