Lord Winterbourne is known for his height, his hauteur, his perfection of necktie, and not least his scathing put-downs. These conspire to reduce his nearest neighbour in the country, Miss Felicia deVere, to tears of mortification; ando bring her niece Violette to the very pinnacle of incandescent fury.

At the advanced age of five-and-twenty and yearning for a family of her own, Violette refuses to be married for her fortune. Having reconciled herself to unwilling spinsterhood, she has only her own foolishness to blame when she positively forces his lordship into a most unwilling engagement. This is especially galling when she is quite desperately in love with someone else - though he is hardly marriage material, being a rogue and a ruffian and on the run from the Excise men.

And things get more complicated still when a third suitor steps forward – a villain of the first order, with blackmail on his mind.

With reputations to be protected and a man’s life at stake, Violette is faced with a desperate choice. Will she marry a man she despises – or gamble everything to save the life of the man she loves?