Edie's life changed after a tragic accident that took her parents. Taken in by her father's family, the Oakridge Earls, she endures the cold treatment of her aunt and cousin, Dahlia. When a marriage proposal arrives from Lionel, the eldest son of the heavily indebted Granvelle Marquis family, Dahlia, horrified by Lionel's illness, pleads with her parents to have Edie take her place. Lionel, aware of his terminal illness, asks for only a year of marriage. Edie, possessing a special inherited ability in a world where magic is nearly lost, supports him. As she does, Lionel miraculously recovers, his affection for Edie growing. This is a happy-end love story.