A spirited schoolteacher and a rakish inventor find unexpected love... Jess Wainwright loves her teaching position at the village school. Despite the occasional frog in her chair. What she doesn't love is the interfering school superintendent, Cadoc Morgan. His niece and nephew attend her school and he thinks that gives him the authority to make unannounced visits to her classroom for observation, and remove the microscope she obtained for science lessons. When he propositions her with a bargain that will ruin her reputation if it's discovered, Jess doesn't know what to do. Jess and Cadoc are both firmly opposed to each other - until a reckless bargain exposes everything seething beneath the surface between them.