Clara Grace longs for only one thing: to be free. She longs to be free of her father who has always resented her, she longs to be free of the house, which still contains the ghost of her older sister who passed on a year ago. But, when her father announces that he placed a personal ad in her name seeking a husband out west and, what's more, he has accepted a proposal on her behalf, she can't help but think that this is not the freedom she imagined. Even though the letters Alfred Bell has written to her father (who wrote to the young man under Clara's name) are eloquent and reveal the his intelligence and polite manner, Clara is reluctant to accept that she will be happy with a man she has never met. When she meets Alfred, however, she discovers that, like her, he is at the mercy of a demanding father. Now, Clara must make a decision. Will she stay with Alfred and face the demands of his family with him, or will she strike out to find freedom on her own?
