A dark stranger, a moonlit horse ride, a crumbling mansion- is this a nightmare or a dream come true for Deborah Jannvier? Late in the 18th century, beautiful Deborah Jannvier and her widowed mother live in a tiny cottage at the mercy of Deborah's cruel uncle. One evening, just as Deborah's patience with her pauper's life ends, a darkly handsome but gruff stranger arrives at the cottage with a bizarre demand. He wants Deborah to accompany him by horse to Marymoor, a crumbling manor on the edge of the Lancashire moors where Deborah's great-uncle Ralph is on his death-bed. If Deborah will promise to do whatever Ralph asks of her, she will be made mistress of Marymoor and all her worries for herself and her mother can be cast aside. But Deborah will have to leave tonight. Can she trust herself to this man who is hardly a gentleman? And what will she have to do to secure her future?