Lovely Daphne doesn’t want to risk passion—desiring only a calm, well-mannered marriage. But Simon Garfield has a gift for ruffling her feathers—and unsettling her heart.
Daphne Armitage embarked on her first Season with secret dread. For though she had long since learned the power of her flawless beauty, she shrank from the open competition of the marriage mart. Better to marry her first suitor, the fastidious Cyril Archer, and be done with it. But when Simon Garfield, notable and wealthy Corinthian, falls in love with the lively girl bubbling beneath the veneer of her beauty, Daphne's resolve is tested...that is, until the vain Mr. Archer threatens to reveal a family scandal so horrible that marriage seems a small price to pay for Daphne to keep the secret.
M. C. Beaton
M. C. Beaton is the pen name of bestselling novelist Marion Chesney. She was a prolific writer of historical romances and small village mysteries. Born in Scotland, the author began her writing career as a fiction buyer for a Glasgow bookstore and worked as a theater critic, newspaper reporter, and editor. The author wrote under various names, most notably as M. C. Beaton for her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. She also wrote under the names Sarah Chester, Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Marion Gibbons, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward. M.C. BEATON® is a registered trademark of M.C. Beaton Limited