When Melony Farramond's betrothed was disfigured in a horrific fire eleven years ago, she succumbed to her fears and terminated the engagement, unable to face the prospect of a long life with a crippled monster. Now a lonely spinster, she's overcome by regret and wishes only to see him one more time, so that they might both put the past behind them. Lord Hartley Kentigern was badly scarred in the fire that took the lives of his father and younger brother, and the tragedy became unbearable when his fiancée broke off their engagement soon after. Sinking deeper and deeper into a morass of cynicism and bitterness and haunted by a rejection he can never excuse, he now lives a solitary life on his estate, resigned to enjoying only fleeting comforts in the arms of an occasional willing woman. With the annual Valentine masquerade ball approaching, Hartley's concerned sister hatches a scheme to bring Melony and her brother together once more, in a final effort to force him to confront his demons. It's a plan that could backfire and reopen the most painful of wounds, or be the one chance Hartley and Melony have to forgive both each other and themselves and rediscover the love they were meant to share.