In the elegant isolation of a Victorian mansion in Cape May, New Jersey, Autumn Thackeray, the once proud heiress of a once proud family, learns that she is "ill-suited to service." Her family's fortune diminished, she has taken a position as a companion to the mother of Cain Byron, a complex and ungracious young gentleman who is accustomed to giving orders and expecting them to obeyed without question, especially by the women of his household. His temper is infamous, and his domineering and masterful ways dictated by his upbringing and his social status. But Autumn has been reared by open-minded and generous parents; she will not be intimidated by Cain's tyrannical manner. And she will not be seduced by his attraction to her. She will be no man's "light o' love."