Lord Philip Fenton promised the dying Captain Hale he would look after his family, but when he returns to England at Christmas, he arrives too late. The unfortunate family has been turned out of their home. He had thought the lovely widow calling herself Mrs. Leeming might be Mrs. Hale, but she is not. Nevertheless, he must help this impoverished family reach their destination in Lincolnshire, where he's traveling to see his family. As is his custom, he conceals his aristocratic title, traveling under the name Mr. Fenton.
They're both concealing information, but as the journey continues the barriers between them lower. He gave her his word he was a gentleman. As a man of honor, he cannot allow her to know how her very presence creates a yearning in him, how he aches to take her in his arms, how one word from her could make this his best Christmas ever . . .