It was common gossip that "Duff" D'Abernon, Marquis of
Darley, had returned from Waterloo a changed man. Gone
was the reckless youth and in his place was a sullen
recluse more interested in tending his horses than
attending balls. But now the Marquis was entering the
game again, openly flirting with the beautiful, witty, and
thoroughly disreputable Annabelle Foster.
Annabelle's no stranger to scandal. The actress-
playwright is rumored to have had liaisons with any number
of powerful men, with an illegitimate daughter to show for
it. She wont chance heartache again, even for a man as
tempting as Duff D'Abernon. What she offers instead is a
compromise: a true friendship of equals.
Each agrees to the terms. A bargain is struck. And an
idyllic summer begins. But what starts as friendship soon
blossoms into searing passion. And the only thing worse
than risking their hearts is no risking them at all...