The deception

The Duke of Portsmouth hires a relative with no money and a half-French background to look after his young son. Her name is Evangeline de Beauchamps, and the post seems a simple arrangement. Within days he realises he wants her, badly.

Evangeline is nineteen and a virgin, and she is far out of her depth. To keep her position she has to pass as an experienced widow in front of a man who is sure he understands women as well as he understands his horses. The pretence puts more on her shoulders than anyone her age should carry.

The Duke is slow to see that she is not what she appears. His desire arrives fast, while the truth about her comes to him gradually, and the romance runs on the gap between the two.

This is a historical romance that began as a short Signet Regency in April 1983 under the title An Intimate Deception. It has since been rewritten as a full-length novel. It carries the label Baron, 3.

The question driving the story is how long Evangeline can keep up the act while the Duke's attention stays fixed on her.