A Delicate Operation — Since her father's death, Cora MacLaren has lived with various sickly relatives, exchanging her resourcefulness and excellent nursing skills for bed and board. Her latest situation, however, presents unusual complications. Her cousin Lord Wintercroft seems to have filled his decrepit stone castle with relations for the express purpose of needling them.

It soon becomes clear that his pincushion of choice is Cora, ,whom he intends to wed before disinheriting all others, including his son, handsome but fierce Alexander Neadow. A houseful of bad blood may be too serious an ailment for even Cora to cure, especially when she herself starts to develop an aching heart for Alexander. But this angel of mercy isn't about to succumb to a fate worse than death without offering up a healthy dose of love..