After their family mansion burns to the ground, the lovely Erlina Sherwood and her little brother, the sixth Baronet of Sherwood, go to the neighbouring estate to ask if they can stay at Meldon Hall as they now have nowhere else to go.
It is just about the only habitable residence in the village left after the Marquis of Meldon, upon inheriting the family seat, disavowed his house and estate, and everyone in or near it.
Because of his neglect, Meldon Hall has fallen into disrepair, and since local workers and even the Vicar have not been paid, most of the local houses in the village are falling down, and most of the villagers have left the area in despair.
Expecting only to find The Hall’s caretaker in residence, Erlina is taken aback to find a strange man sitting alone in the darkness of the shuttered drawing room, and after her initial shock, she realises that it is the Marquis himself, and he has been blinded in a racing accident.
Soon she is discovering the secret reason why the embittered and blind ‘Wicked Marquis’ has so cruelly neglected his people and property.
Meeting his greedy, unscrupulous cousin and his beautiful lover, she also realises that there are people in the world who are far more wicked than the Marquis, and she suddenly finds that she is falling in love with him.