As Lord Adam Beresford left Ashwood, Hertfordshire for the training and education of a gentleman, he promised to return and marry his childhood best friend, and the only girl he could see himself marrying, Grace Denham.

Neither of them foresaw that it would be twelve years until they would meet again.
A lot has changed in that time, and their lives are vastly different. Adam became a gentleman, and everything that the heir to a Dukedom ought to be. Grace remained in Ashwood and became a housemaid to support her family.

But as their lives intertwine once more, their childhood promise bubbles to the surface, throwing their lives, the lives of their families, and the village of Ashwood into chaos.