Mr James Robert Walters is in debt, and so formulates an ingenious plan to gain his inheritance whilst still getting to continue his life as a bachelor. Miss Annabelle Bridlington is a heiress of a distinguished family. She is pressured into marriage with a man she barely knows to improve her station and combine their fortunes. Both have secrets they are determined to hide. But will Annabelle's past and his present doom their marriage from the start?