Lady Gloria Swenson has lived through eighteen months she can never forget or escape. Can Lord Clare help her to live, when all she wants to do is hide? When Jeremy Blessing, better known as the Marquess of Clare, discovers a proud young lady wandering his father's lands, he finds himself looking for her angelic smile and golden head at every turn. But Lady Gloria Swenson has lived through eighteen months she'll never forget or escape, no matter how far she's already run. When Clare insists on her time, then her trust, and finally offers a marriage to protect her, they'll have to confront the thorny issues of all complex relationships one difficult negotiation at a time, even as they flee across the Irish Sea and the through the Scottish borderlands in a futile search for safety. Money, family, children, and a vindictive, greedy man all collude to separate them, but it is Gloria's reticence that Clare has to conquer more than any other obstacle. Will Gloria overcome her fears and her disillusionment? What will Clare have to sacrifice to bring them together?