James is everything Tish has ever wanted in a husband - she?s married a man who even her mother approves of. He?s handsome, dependable, and will make an excellent father - unlike Tish?s first love, the disreputable Fergal. Her teenage sweetheart abandoned her for a music career and now lives a typical celebrity lifestyle. Fergal broke her heart - James helped mend it. Now, they?ve bought a cottage in the country. The next step - kids and a lifetime...

The eldest, Minerva, is enchantingly beautiful - but a prude. She lives in the country looking after her siblings while her mother reclines on a chaise longue happily inventing new malaises. Her father, a vicar of decidedly secular inclinations, indulges a hearty passion for hunting instead of worrying about the girls' dowries. But when he wants to send his boys to Eton, the money must be found - and how better than by marrying Minerva off to a man...