When Chloe Fairfax was eleven she met Lord William Crandall. For the next six years they corresponded weekly. Then one day William comes to visit her father and see her. William courts her and they fall in love. The next spring William weds the spirited young woman. The following year they decided to travel by coach to visit William's mother. She had been too ill to attend the wedding. It was a pleasant and exciting trip, until they were waylaid by three armed highwaymen.