They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a secret past. He is the cool, black-caped stranger who unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Between these two unlikely strangers, desire is instantaneous - and utterly impossible to resist. Stranded together in a country inn, Lucius Marshall - the Viscount Sinclair - and Frances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her place - and it is far from the privileged world of the sensual aristocrat. Due to begin her teaching position at Miss Martin's School in Bath, Frances must try to forget that one extraordinary night - and the man who touched her with such exquisite tenderness and abandon. But Frances cannot hide forever. And when fate once again throws them together, Lucius refuses to take no for an answer. If Frances will not be his wife, he will make her his mistress. So begins an odyssey fraught with intrigue - one that defies propriety and shocks the strait-laced ton. For Lucius's passionate, single-minded pursuit is about to force Frances to give up all her secrets - except one - to win the heart of the man she already loves.