When the Earl and Countess of Wyndham were killed in a carriage accident, their son, Maxwell Leighton, was forced to assume the responsibilities of the Earldom. Barely of age himself, Max enlisted his aunts’ aid in the raising of his two young sisters. However, he remained an active part of his sisters’ lives. Now, as the elder girl, Clarice, prepares for her Season, Max opens the London house for the first time since his parents’ deaths ten years earlier... moreWhen the Earl and Countess of Wyndham were killed in a carriage accident, their son, Maxwell Leighton, was forced to assume the responsibilities of the Earldom. Barely of age himself, Max enlisted his aunts’ aid in the raising of his two young sisters. However, he remained an active part of his sisters’ lives. Now, as the elder girl, Clarice, prepares for her Season, Max opens the London house for the first time since his parents’ deaths ten years earlier. In doing so, he reopens old wounds, and unleashes feelings of guilt he thought he had buried long ago. Needing time to sort out his turbulent emotions, Max disappears from London at the height of the Season. Katherine Lennox enjoyed a quiet life with her father in Portsmouth, until his heroic death in the Battle of Trafalgar. With no other family to take her in, thirteen-year-old Katherine was sent to live with a distant cousin. Ten years later, Katherine, penniless and cast adrift by her only relatives, leaves all she knows for an uncertain future as a governess. A chance meeting on the road to Bath changes Max and Katherine’s lives forever. When Max is injured trying to rescue Katherine from the lecherous Sir Frederic Montesque, and they are forced to spend a week together in a small country inn, each discovers feelings which, given their respective stations, are better left unexamined. They part ways before either can do anything they would both regret. Since Max returns to London, and Katherine soon leaves England for a position in Brussels, both believe their paths will never cross again. However, their paths do cross again, with fate placing Katherine in Max’s employ, as governess to his younger sister, Melanie. It is soon apparent to friends and family that these two stubborn and willful individuals are made for each other. Unfortunately, Katherine and Max are too busy crossing swords to recognize the true depth of their feelings for each other. Re-enter Sir Frederic Montesque, who arrives on the scene with but one thing in mind: revenge. His attempted abduction of Katherine on the road to Bath was not the first such plan thwarted by Max, and Montesque has vowed to teach the nobleman a lesson. Will Montesque destroy their only chance at happiness? Or can Katherine and Max beat the villainous baronet at his own game, and secure a future together? It won’t be easy. First, they must foil a kidnapping plot. Then Max must deal with the guilt he has harbored over his parents’ deaths. Finally, they must rid themselves of Katherine’s encroaching relatives. But, with the help of their friends, it just might be possible. less
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