From the moment Lindsey Gresham and Stuart Conlowe met, on board the ship that was taking them both to Cape Town, they felt attracted to each other. And when Lindsey received a cable informing her of the death of the aunt to whom she was travelling - an event which left her alone in the world and penniless - Stuart at once suggested that she should marry him. They were, he said, very good friends, and their marriage would remain on a purely friendly footing until their mutual liking had grown into love.

But marriages in name only, rarely prosper; and the difficulties in Lindsey's case were further complicated by the advent of the other woman in Stuart's life.