Beautiful but penniless, Lady Caroline Stanyon has set her sights on a brilliant match and secured the hand of the wealthy, cynical, and notoriously "wicked" Marquis of Ryde. Under her protection is her gentle, perceptive orphaned cousin Orelia, whom Caroline intends to marry off equally well. But Orelia cannot forget a stolen first kiss given to her by a dark, sardonic stranger who once rescued her from danger on a country road. When she finally meets her cousin's intended, her world shatters, for the Marquis is that very stranger. As the wedding approaches, Caroline plays carelessly at love affairs while Orelia struggles to be the conscience her late uncle's will charged her to be, all the while fighting the feelings the Marquis stirs in her. Set in the glittering, treacherous world of Regency London, the story threads forbidden attraction through social ambition and rivalry. Orelia soon finds herself the target of a ruthless and dangerous suitor, forcing her toward a choice between loyalty to her cousin and a love that could cost her everything. In the author's signature pure-romance style, virtue, peril, and devotion drive the heroine toward her fate.