Celia had thought she wanted nothing more than to live out her life in Marchwood, to dig her roots in there where she belonged, to be part of it and its way of living.

Looking back, it seemed odd that one man could have caused such havoc in her life.

Dr. Laurence Deverel was a man's man. Being a scientist, he based his conclusions on experiments which had gone before, and his conclusions about women were not favourable.

The young men Celia had known had always treated her as an equal, given her free companionship she took for granted as the natural order of things. It was not until long after she had crossed swords with Laurence and found hers a double-edged one that she realised the real quarrel between them.

Could two such conflicting personalities make a success of friendship, love, or marriage?