What freedoms is a forty-year-old widow permitted in the year 1755? Might she publish a somewhat scandalous romance? Or fall in love with a younger man? Mary Allen is about to find out. Due to a misunderstanding, Mary is on the cusp of becoming a published author, an action she considers highly improper. When she learns that her brother is forcing his young daughter, Louisa, into an arranged marriage, she recognizes the opportunity to help her niece and to escape the shame of publication. Mary sweeps her niece off to Bath where she intends to help Louisa find a love match and to stay away from the lure of her pen.