Returning home to care for her sick mother, Juliet Clark, hiding that she is pregnant and that her ex isn't the father, intends on a short stay until a feud between her mother and a neighbor reveals that she isn't the only one keeping a secret.

When she must wed due to a stipulation in her inheritance, Cornelia, an activist painter of radicals and harlots who wants to fund the cause of women’s rights, is forced to reveal a secret—she’s already wed to a man she hasn’t seen for 20 years.