When Caroline Trent is kidnapped by Blake Ravenscroft, she doesn't try to elude this handsome agent of the crown. Blake believes she's a notorious spy named Carlotta De Leon, but for six weeks until her 21st birthday, when she'll gain control of her fortune, hiding out in the company of a mysterious captor is awfully convenient.

Olivia Bevelstoke, the only daughter of the Earl of Rutland, is beautiful and has a sizeable dowry. Yet at the age of 21 she is still unmarried, causing people to whisper behind her back. But Olivia isn't cold or stuck up, and neither is she a hopeless romantic. She's just waiting for something - or someone.

Sebastian Grey is in limbo. He is the heir to the Earl of Newbury, unless the current earl, a widower, can find a bride who will bear him a son. Newbury is in his 60s, but as an earl he's considered quite a catch. Sebastian, on the other hand, is 29 and extremely handsome, but in no hurry to find a wife.

Hugh Prentice has never had patience for dramatic females, and if Lady Sarah Pleinsworth has ever been acquainted with the words shy or retiring, she's long since tossed them out the window. Besides, a reckless duel has left this brilliant mathematician with a ruined leg, and now he could never court a woman like Sarah, much less dream of marrying her. Sarah has never forgiven Hugh for the duel he fought that nearly destroyed her family. But even if she could find a way to forgive him, it wouldn't matter. She doesn't care that his leg is less than perfect, it's his personality she can't...

The second installment of The Smythe-Smith Quartet.