Lady Edith Wentworth is all that is fashionable in the higher echelons of 1820s English society.
Until she learns her brother's secret that destroys any hope of her retaining her coveted place in society. Humiliated, she flees to Paris but life on her own is not as easy as she had thought it would be. Brought low and destitute by a series of poor decisions, she becomes a school teacher and meets a mysterious and alluring Irish man Peter O'Sullivan.
Private investigator Peter O'Sullivan has been sent by Edith's brother Lord James Wentworth to retrieve his sister least she be hurt by those who know Lord Wentworth's secret. Convinced not by money and against his distaste for the slovenly lord, he is moved by the man's wish to save his sister. Shocked to discover a kind quiet woman, who by all accounts was disliked by many, he befriends her. Their feelings for each other grow as they share a love of Greek poetry and a sense of loneliness and loss relating to their family's pasts. Before he can betray his code of honour any further, he tells her the truth of who he is and why she must return to England for her own safety.
Meeting new characters including the McCloughlin brothers, a cheeky pair of Scottish twins and the O'Connells, an Irish family who adopted Peter as one of their own, their journey home takes many turns. Some for the worst, until Peter and Lord Wentworth finally confront those who hold Lord Wentworth's secret. Not wishing her to be with him out of gratitude, Peter choses to sacrifice any hope of a future with Edith by rescuing her brother and ultimately saving her from harm. Not to be controlled by anyone else's decisions any more, Edith overrides Peter's decision and choses to be with him. She learns fulfilment does not come from society nor station, but from love and connection with others.