Tom Collinson escapes from a press gang and ends up hiding out disguised as a footman in the home of Lady Camilla, a lovely widow. Camilla herself happy finally to be free of the dictatorial constraints of her late husband, is dismayed when her overbearing sister-in-law starts to try and find her a new husband. Wouldn’t it be better if she was already married to someone else? Suddenly Tom finds himself enlisted to masquerade as Camilla’s new husband, a role the couple starts to wish was actually true.