When a stranger in a bar loudly comments on her appearance, Chloe Lambert can only assume that the remark which cut her to the bone was for him simply a casual aside. Park Delafield, however, struck down on the spot for his brutality by a friend of Chloe's, is visited in his humiliation by the insight that only the love of the woman he has offended can save him from continuing as the repellent, contemptible, individual he has become. He sets out to win Chloe but she, bewildered by his attentions and repelled by his egotism, wants no part in his quest. Until his tireless persistence combined with her own curiosity about his true personality and motives soften her distrust of his sincerity. Warily she allows him into her life, seeding hurricanes of self-discovery, reckless commitment, and searing betrayal through which all involved journey toward disaster . . . or liberation and redemption.