As a duke is brought undone by a vicar’s daughter, and a marriage forged in anger and necessity turns to love.

Robert Layne, Duke of Troubridge, has long sought a marriage based on love, but this longed-for felicity has persistently eluded him. Then with the death of his father, he discovers that the estate’s finances are in such a parlous condition that he must forego his dreams of love and with all haste find himself a wealthy wife.

Miss Sarah Watson, vicar’s daughter and veteran wallflower, has been saddled with a fortune thanks to the untimely death of her godmother. This elevation...

As a duke is brought undone by a vicar’s daughter, and a marriage forged in anger and necessity turns to love.

Robert Layne, Duke of Troubridge, has long sought a marriage based on love, but this longed-for felicity has persistently eluded him. Then with the death of his father, he discovers that the estate’s finances are in such a parlous condition that he must forego his dreams of love and with all haste find himself a wealthy wife.

Miss Sarah Watson, vicar’s daughter and veteran wallflower, has been saddled with a fortune thanks to the untimely death of her godmother. This elevation to the rank of heiress has made her a target for all of London’s fortune hunters. Sarah has long nursed a secret infatuation for the duke, but she is furious when it’s only her sudden acquisition of a fortune that brings her to his notice.

Sparks fly and passion erupts between these two seemingly mismatched people, but the starched-up duke is persistently wrong-footed, and his attempts to woo Sarah seem doomed from the beginning. Then circumstances force them into a marriage of convenience, and as Robert falls hopelessly in love with his wife, Sarah’s heart softens. But when Robert stumbles yet again, can he make amends well enough to win her heart forever?