Cassius Wentworth, Earl of Chasten, has many carefree years of bachelorhood ahead of him-or so he thinks. Then he meets Lady Alise Ellington, the polar opposite of his ideal woman. She is too bookish, too opinionated, and too intelligent, but he can't forget her. His obsession with her intensifies when he deflowers her during a morning ride in the woods beyond her estate. Unfortunately they are seen by her old enemy, and Cash has to track him down and make him pay for wrongs done to Alise. Cash determines to prove to Alise that to really experience life she must live it, not read about it. With himself as arbitrator, he plans a menage a quatre which will assist her in choosing a husband from two men who adore her and will also allow Cash to walk away. Will he teach her a lesson, or will he learn one?