Meggie Hope thinks herself quite clever, though she's never once stepped foot outside her home, Muirfield Hall. She is, in fact, no match for the intoxicating charms of Gabriel Jamison, her own betrothed.
She cannot ever wed him, of course. She is afflicted with a curse that says that any man who seeks her hand will meet death before he weds her, unless there is love. When suitors begin falling prey to the curse, and Meg's father won't listen to reason and betroths her yet again, this time to Gabriel Jamison, she runs away rather than be held responsible for another's demise. When Gabriel finds her, she pretends to be someone else, and he gallantly insists on returning her to her family. And her heart aches for how perfect and kind her betrothed actually is. Having met him and kissed him, Meggie knows she cannot be the reason he dies.
Gabriel hadn't planned on Meggie Hope, hadn't anticipated that she would flee rather than wed him or that his heart would come to life in her presence. He knew she was lying about her identity from the start, knew within minutes of meeting her that it was going to take more than a ridiculous curse to keep him from her.
