Widower Jonathan Dolan knows how to work hard, make money, and dote on his daughter Georgina, but his humble Irish antecedents have not prepared him for the challenge of wooing Amy Ingraham, Georgina's elegant, genteel governess. Just as Amy begins to evidence a shy pleasure in Jonathan's overtures, a distant cousin turns up claiming that Amy is obligated to marry him. Jonathan must be clever, determined, and above all else honorable if he's to win not only Amy's hand, but the respect of a society only too willing to judge him harshly.