Caroline Fortune asks for little more than to train horses and continue her stealthy progress towards independence. To this end, she projects a cheerfully argumentative persona in the hope that the potential suitors dredged up by her mother will all leave her alone. Lord Alexander Rothwell is certainly happy to do so. He is in Newmarket purely to fulfill an obligation. Irritable because he believes he is investigating a mare's nest, he is determined to disprove rumors of crooked racecourse dealings as soon as possible so he can return to his political career in London. But when Caroline finds Alexander left for dead outside her brother's racing stables, they are both considerably disconcerted.
