After the death of her deeply indebted father, nineteen-year-old Abigail Barrow faces a hard future in the workhouses of nineteenth-century London. Her only hope lies in a marriage to Dr. Simon Abbott, a man whose life her father once saved while they both served in Her Majesty’s Navy. But with no education and no dowry, she can hardly expect the esteemed doctor to agree to the match, especially when the stern doctor has little patience for a combative upstart of a woman. Right away, Abigail is taught this is one man who will not tolerate her bad temper.

The reserved Dr. Abbott has long avoided marriage, knowing that what he seeks in a wife is not easy to find. Abigail’s response to his firm chastisement convinces him that she is just the woman he needs, but she will require training to be a properly submissive wife, and thus before he makes her his bride he decides to bring her into his home as his ward.

On her first day in Simon’s home, Abigail finds herself regressed by her stern guardian. Worse still, her failure to obey her new guardian promptly results in a swift and painful punishment. Yet Simon’s strict discipline is accompanied by gentle, loving care, and as the days pass his intimate attentions awaken a powerful need within her. But can there be a permanent place for her in Simon’s life as both his wife and his little ward?