As a young woman, clever, self-reliant Lydia Templeton scandalised society by rejecting Lewis Durrant, the county's most eligible bachelor. Ten years later, having concluded that matters of the heart need no longer trouble her, Lydia is quite happy to remain unwed. But others still seek Lydia's advice on their love lives, and when her godmother implores her to sort out her young ward Phoebe's accidental double-engagement, it's hard to refuse, although the prospect fills Lydia with horror - especially as she must go to Bath of all places to do it. However, finding a solution to Phoebe's dilemma proves far trickier than anyone imagined and, as affairs become increasingly tangled, Lydia finds that her own heart is not quite the closed book she thought it was...