Fitzwilliam Bennett, William to his friends, had been raised with one single truth engrained into his head above all others; that a single woman in possession of good fortune must be in want of a husband, or at least a serious boyfriend.

Yet, despite his mother's obsession with her son's marrying and therefore giving her lots and lots of adorable grandchildren and her constant complaints about his prolonged bachelor-hood and its effect on her 'poor nerves', William had long ago assured himself that nothing short of a passionate love and deep respect for his partner could entice him into marriage, regardless of the women's wealth, connections or appearance.

Will would have never thought this to be a romantic notion, more of a self-preserving precaution so that he didn't wake up one day, twenty years from now, and find himself married to a clone of Francine Bennett.

At twenty-four, William was perfectly contented to remain a bachelor for quite some time yet... or he would've been had not circumstance and an infuriating, insufferable, arrogant, conceited, gorgeous girl not ruined, perhaps forever, his hope of living happily without her.