Glynis MacIain told Lennox Cameron that she loved him, only to be humiliated by his reaction. She escaped to London, met a man who proposed a bargain: marry him and they'd have a business-like arrangement. Seven years later, she returns to Glasgow as a widow with a secret.
Lennox Cameron had never married as he's never been able to forget Glynis and her confession. When she returns to Glasgow it is at the worst time in his life: he is building a blockade runner for the Confederate Navy. Why, then, is she friendly with a Union agent?
The last thing Glynis wants is to see Matthew Baumann again. He was the operative she reported to when she spied for the Union in Washington. As a member of the British Legation she had ample opportunities to pass on information about southern sympathizers. Now she is just trying to come to grips with the damage her information has caused and the deaths for which she might be responsible. But it's not just that. Now the American Civil War with its far reaching complications is decimating the family mill. The MacIain Mill was starved of raw material and unless they can get an infusion of cash or cotton, they have no choice but to close their doors. Glynis approaches Lennox with a proposition - give them money to survive until the end of the war. When he isn't amenable to that, she upps the ante, telling him that she will become his lover if he agrees. Lennox sends her home, the situation once again rife with humiliation. Only they'd been watched by Lennox's houseguest, a thoroughly dislikeable woman married to a Confederate captain.
As gossip begins to swirl around Glynis and Lennox, a tragedy happens on the ship Lennox had just finished building. The death of the Confederate captain makes Lennox wonder if Glynis was responsible in some fashion. She, in turn, is certain that Matthew Baumann is behind the death and the subsequent arson aboard ship. Glynis agrees to marry Lennox, ostensibly because of the gossip. Lennox marries the woman he'd always loved partially to protect her. Although he wasn't certain what hold Baumann has over her, he knows something is wrong. Glynis finally confesses to Lennox, knowing that telling him everything might kill any emotion he felt. To her surprise, he understands. But can they get their happily ever after once Glynnis realizes who is behind the death?
