Phoebe Fenwick is confused. As the overlooked middle Fenwick sister, considered plain and irritatingly high-minded by almost everyone outside of her own family, she’s been looking forward to one of her only friends returning home. Hugh Winthrop, her shy, bespectacled friend, is finally coming back from his year in Geneva–but when he finally arrives, he’s very different. Apparently, Geneva changed more than Hugh’s scholarly outlook–more specifically, his looks–and the handsome man who walks into the ballroom is almost unrecognisable. What’s more, when they eventually speak, he has something very important to ask her.