When an injured knight arrives on Brida O'Conaill's doorstep, the village assumes he's her long-lost husband. But her only previous connection to Sir Thomas Lovent was an intense shared moment at a tournament years ago. Brida maintains the pretense while she nurses him, yet once he's back to full, virile health, she cannot reveal Thomas is not her husband—or that she's unmarried!—when everyone is expecting them to act like husband and wife.