At nineteen Rea Glyn seemed to have little ahead of her but a life of quiet drudgery. And when the celebrated writer and explorer, Burke Ryland, suddenly took an interest in her, the last thing she had expected was that he should ask her to marry him. But that was what happened. From the first, though, Rae was aware that Burke did not love her, that his only reason for marrying her was to solve a private problem of his own. Could she manage to accept his terms?