In 1909 New York City, Temperance O'Neil is an upper class intellectual exploring the few public forums allowed her: the campaign against the tenements and the emancipation of women. When her stepfather, Angus McCairn, demands that Temperance move to Scotland to begin a more proper life, she is stuck. Dependent on his control of her money, Temperance moves to Scotland but makes his life a circus of women's committees and good works. To distract her, Angus makes an irresistible offer--once she has found a wife for his reclusive nephew, James, she may return to New York with a modest stipend. Temperance agrees, and heads for the remote laird. Once Temperance arrives, however, she realizes that the challenge of finding James a wife is equally as intimidating as the prospect of cleaning up a tenement.
