England, 1870. Lord Hugo Chester, the Duke of Wynchester was easily the most eligible man in Queen Victoria's London, the dream of every unmarried girl in society. And of one married lady as well: the splendid and imperious Lady Olive Brandon, the Duke's sensuous and cunning mistress, who was prepared to risk all to make her lover her husband.... The Duke felt he was living a nightmare. He vowed he would never marry Lady Brandon but how could he escape the trap she had set? The predicament of a stowaway in his carriage seemed to promise a possible solution. Janeta, the unhappy stepdaughter of Lady Brandon, was running away determined to kill herself rather than be forced to wed an elderly tyrant. The Duke's solution was brilliant, surprising, and bold--with results the handsome peer could never have foreseen!