Wealthy Miss Rosalind Elliot is all too aware of what she represents to prospective suitors. In her golden hair, they see the coin of the realm; In her sapphire blue eyes, the value of her investments. She fears becoming hard hearted, yet would rather settle into a dignified spinsterhood than make an attachment with a fortune-hungry man. But her quiet life in Bath becomes considerably more exciting with the arrival of the dashing Captain Philip Caldwell, who brings with him his elderly aunt - her grandmother's nemesis - and an aura of intrigue.