Though they were exact opposites, Gussie Stilwell and Harry Fletcher often played together growing up in Rutland, England. To pass the time one hot summer day, they vowed to marry each other should Harry ever inherit his distant cousin’s baronetcy, sealing their pact with blood. When he made the Pact, Harry knew he would never inherit Camrose from his cousin. He was third in line behind two robust men, including his brother, after all. But when a series of unthinkable events saddle him with the baronetcy, Harry must return from soldiering in Bombay to take up the mantle. With Gussie’s letters keeping him company on the voyage, he wrestles with the question whether to honor the childhood pact with his best friend, if she was willing, that is. Gussie is not made for marriage. A fact she has known for years, declaring to anyone who asked that she will never participate in the institution. She made the Pact with Harry safe in the conviction that he would never inherit. They would simply remain best friends, even if Harry stayed in India as a soldier for the rest of his days. But when Harry arrives in England as Sir Harry, a baronet who now must marry, Gussie must decide which vow to keep.