For centuries the English Borderers and the Scots have been at loggerheads - and it was in the old tradition that Rowan Falstone loathed Colt Kielder. When they were children, and she had been the earl's daughter and he the son of a humble farmworker, she had looked on him with contempt. Now, years later, he had made good, come back and had the impertinence to plan to destroy the countryside around Rowan's home to build a reservoir. But then, to make matters even worse, Rowan's brother sold Colt their home - and left her with not much alternative to accepting Colt's proposal of marriage