Lord Havelock is in need of a wife. But with no time for a society wedding, and no stomach for girlish fripperies, his options are limited. So with help from his friends, he draws up a list of qualities he does want in a wife... When orphaned Mary Carpenter discovers her handsome new husband's list, she's hurt - and incensed. If he thinks she'll sit meekly by, be ""compliant"" and ""a mouse"", he's got another think coming! Is it perhaps time for Mary to make a list of her own, and change the rules of their relationship forever?