"Lucas, you must return home." These enigmatic words are all the preparation young Lucas Bywood receives when he is summoned home early from his Grand Tour. He little expects the tangle of obligations that ensnares him from the moment he sets foot on the family estate. His best friend caught up in gambling debts, his father forcing him into an arranged marriage with a young woman he dislikes and who is in love with another, and his mother struggling to recover from a suspicious riding accident... Faced with pressure from all sides, Lucas wants nothing more than to turn around and escape back to the continent. However, he cannot leave without solving the mystery of his mother's accident. Finding the answer will take more than his usual stubbornness, and Lucas soon finds himself out of his depth. What is a young man to do when everything that can go wrong seems determined to do so?