Weary of war, Leander Knollis, Earl of Charrington, wants a home, a wife, and a good, old-fashioned English Christmas. Unable to fall in love, he offers a marriage of convenience to widow Judith Rossiter. Judith wonders why an attractive earl would propose to a impoverished widow with two young children. But after the folly of her first marriage, a sensible rather than sentimental union is what she wants--or so she believes when she says her vows.