A second son is not necessarily second best
John Trewbridge is destined to spend the rest of his life in the British Army. Serena ripped the heart out of him when she told him he was "only" a second son and therefore not worthy of her. Home on leave he discovers she is about to marry his older brother, Spencer, who will inherit the marquessate. His older brother - the one who made his childhood a misery and whose morals are worse than those of an alley cat.
On a raw winter's day John meets Marguerite Ninian. Crippled from birth she hides from the world and in spite of an inauspicious beginning they feel their way towards a tentative relationship. Then Spencer implodes and smashes the Trewbridge family apart.