The Marquis of Elvington, heartbroken to discover the woman he intended to marry has deceived him, decides to leave England and put as many miles as possible between them. Handsome, intelligent and a great favourite at the Court of King William IV and Queen Adelaide, the Marquis is used to the admiration of women and respect of men, so the duplicity of his intended wife strikes him a cruel blow. However, a thick fog makes it impossible for his yacht to leave Dover Harbour, so he is forced to remain on British soil another night. Anger swiftly chasing his sadness, he decides to visit a cheap quayside inn to escape the loneliness he feels and drown his sorrows. Sitting alone, his mind firmly fixed on how the woman he loved has betrayed him, he vows never to love or trust again. But Fate seems determined to challenge him as almost immediately he is forced to act as a ‘Good Samaritan’ to protect a young lady, Ola, intent on escaping the clutches of her hateful stepmother and dishonourable cousin. Blaming his act of charity on the vast quantities of brandy he consumed and against his better judgement, he offers to sail her in his yacht, The Sea Wolf, to Calais. Ola is brave, opinionated and daring – as well as possessing the most flaming red hair he has ever seen. From the moment she steps aboard, decrying men and their dastardly intentions, the Marquis is hard put to keep in step with her wild ideas and brave deeds. In turn admiring her free spirit and amazed at her lack of understanding of the ways of the world, they form a strange truce based on the fact that both vow never to marry. But Fate has not finished meddling yet and they are soon embroiled in incredible adventures, too fantastic for either of them ever to have imagined, that push their friendship to its very limits.

The Duke of Brockenhurst, bored by Society and cynical about the beautiful women who cast themselves before him in a desperate bid to become his Duchess, accepts a wager to ride from London to York alone and incognito.Outraged by the suggestion that he has lost his verve and the command he once had whilst distinguishing himself in the Army, he decides to reflect on his future, whilst setting himself the challenge to move amongst ordinary people undetected.Valora Melford is bereaved of her beloved father and left in the care of her grasping stepmother. Determined to force her lovely stepdaughter to marry the dissolute Sir Mortimer, who is willing to pay ten thousand pounds for the pleasure, she first entreats and then threatens Valora to do as she is told.However, Valora is made of stronger stuff than her fragile exterior would suggest and she tells her stepmother in no uncertain terms that she will not marry the repulsive old Baronet. In fact Valora is adamant that she...

Lady Lolita Vernon, daughter of the late Earl of Walcott and Vernon, has run away.Her stepfather, Ralph Piran is forcing her to accept the attentions and perhaps an offer of marriage from his business partner, Murdock Tanner, who is very rich but old and repulsive.While she is trying to cover her tracks in London she bumps into a small boy, Simon, who is weeping because he has been beaten cruelly by his stepmother.Because it seems a strange coincidence and because Lolita is desperately sorry for the small boy, she listens to his story and agrees to take him to his uncle, Lord Seabrook, who lives in a castle by Lake Ullswater.When they arrive at the castle, Lord Seabrook accepts Lolita's suggestion that she is employed as Simon's governess, calling herself Mrs. Bell.Lord Seabrook is being pursued by Lady Cressington, one of the great beauties of London, and she has stolen a valuable necklace from the fiancé she has jilted.How Lolita unwittingly starts a chain...

Just eighteen, beautiful and intelligent, Yola Beauharnais lives a blessed Fairy tale life at her magnificent family castle on the Loire. Then her grandmother announces that she has been promised in marriage by her late beloved father to the Marquis de Montereau. Yola is appalled. She has heard of the Marquis, who, although handsome and sophisticated, has a reputation in Paris as a rake, socialite and ‘ladykiller’. How could she possibly marry such a man, one who wants her only for her castle and the extensive estate? Determined to marry only for true love, wherever she may find it, Yola is helped by her father’s mistress and travels ‘undercover’ to Paris in the guise of a woman of questionable morals to meet the notorious Marquis and find out for herself whether he might fall in love with her as herself and for herself only. Or whether she must betray her father’s dying wish and refuse her unwanted suitor. On meeting the Marquis in her disguise, Yola finds that there is much more to him than his reputation suggests and, as love blossoms between them, she comes to bitterly regret her deception. Will she really find her true love or will she be condemned to live a life of disappointment and delusion as the Sleeping Beauty of her enchanted castle?

Employed by the beautiful but mean Mrs. Schuster as a lady's companion on her trop to Morocco, Melina Lindsay is thrilled to at last visit the beautiful land of which her late father had talked with such fondness. But when , jealous of the attention Melina's beauty and youth attract, Mrs. Schuster peremptorily sacks her, she finds herself her alone and helpless in a strange country . Suddenly, a dashing stranger disguised as an Arab appears on her balcony seeking refuge. And, when Melina hides him from his murderous pursuers, it transpires that he is an English agent on a desperate mission to save a young boy who has been kidnapped by evil subversives and whom they will surely murder. Joining the handsome Bing Ward on his perilous mission, she puts her life in his hands and very soon he will also possess her heart – but only if they survive!

The beautiful Cassandra Sherburn has everything a young lady could possibly desire.Slender, flame-haired and alabaster-skinned and the heiress to her father's immense fortune, her father has promised her hand in marriage to the dashing young Marquis of Charlbury, heir to the ancestral home and estates of the Duke of Alchester and she believes that she is in love with him. And over the years she has collected newspaper cuttings about him and pasted them secretly into albums. Now the Marquis's father has died and he has become the Duke of Alchester.Yet Cassandra is not happy. Not only has she not set eyes on her 'fiancé' since she was a child, she has heard from a number of different sources that he is penniless. Is it just her money that he wants to marry? Worse still, rumour has it that he has eyes only for the glamorous and seductive performers at London's notorious Gaiety Theatre. Determined to find out for herself where his heart lies, Cassandra ventures to London in the...

Vida Anstruther's father has gone missing on his latest secret mission, ostensibly to Hungary and her sixth sense tells her that he has actually gone undercover to Russia and is in desperate danger, perhaps at the ruthless hands of the Czar's Secret Police.Having informed the Marquis of Salisbury, the British Foreign Secretary, of her intentions, she sets off under a false name, accompanied only by her faithful Nanny, Margit, and a Courier.Vida journeys into Russia, where she meets the supremely handsome notorious womaniser and 'pet' of the Czar, the playboy Prince Ivan Pavolivski, and instantly falls under his spell.Vida stays with the Prince at his stunningly beautiful castle and she is tempted to trust him, but is horrified when she overhears him talking with a Russian Secret Agent and it seems that the Prince is one of the enemy!But at least now she has learnt that her father is hiding in a nearby Monastery and flees the Prince's castle to go to his...

Princess Zelda of Brienz in Switzerland is being harassed by her father to marry a King or Prince of one of the small countries of Europe.Zelda is very beautiful and determined that when she does marry it will be for love and only love and she cannot possibly fall in love with any of her father's suitors.She runs away from her home to her cousin, Prince Johann II of Liechtenstein, who has always been very fond of her.She tells him that she is determined to find out the truth about a scandal that has been repeated ever since she was born. This was that her real father was the fourth Duke of Milverden from one of the foremost aristocratic families of England. She is also hoping to find the love of her life.To please her, the Prince sends her to stay in London with an old friend of his, Lady Craven, so that she can discover for herself if she is really one of the Milvers.Prince Johann also gives her an introduction to Queen Victoria who, he is well aware, knows...

The young and handsome Duke of Barenlock is twenty-seven and is being constantly pestered by his mother and his family to get married.They are not only frightened he will not produce an heir to the Dukedom, but the Castle, one of the most famous in Scotland, is in desperate need of repair.The Duke's cousin Moira introduces him to an attractive American girl, Mary-Lee, who is an immensely rich heiress.Moira tries to pressure him into proposing to Mary-Lee, but he is idealistic enough to hope that one day he will fall in love with someone who will love him not for his title but for himself.To escape the pressure he goes for a walk by his river, which he shares with his Clans' arch-enemies, the MacFallins.He sees a poacher in the shape of a young girl fishing his water and he is just about to order her off when she hooks a salmon and he cannot resist netting it for her.It is her first salmon and she is so delighted that he finds it hard to tell her she has no...

Queen Victoria sends for the Duke of Sherbourne and asks him to undertake a very secret mission on her behalf. It is so secret that only his loyal valet, Jenkins, is told.The Duke agrees and it takes him to Greece where he had not been for some years.He visits King George who is the same age as he is and whom he has known in the past.He has been a great success as King, although he was only eighteen when he took over the throne and he is married to Princess Olga of Russia and they are extremely happy.The Duke envies them and, although he has been pursued by a great number of beautiful women in London, he has never yet fallen in love. He consistently refuses to marry although his family beg him to produce an heir to his ancient title.Before the Duke leaves Athens, he says that he must visit the Parthenon because he wants to see again the view from the top as it is the most inspiring in the world.When he reaches the top, the only other person there is a young and...

The Duke of Ravenstock is the most attractive and elusive bachelor in London – and the most notorious.His exploits and romantic escapades keep the salons of the Social world buzzing – but never more so than when he announces that he will marry. His friends soon realise that what has captured the Duke's heart is the purity and innocence of his intended bride.The wedding date has been fixed when the Duke discovers by accident that his fiancée has taken a lover, a close friend of his.Shattered and disillusioned, the Duke plots a cruel revenge. When he reveals to his sister, the Mother Superior of a Convent in Paris, that he seeks the most innocent girl he can find for his bride, she introduces him to Anoushka, a novice in her care at the Convent.Anoushka has a mysterious background, having been brought secretly and anonymously to the Convent as a child.n Somewhat reluctantly Anoushka agrees to marry the Duke, but, to his amazement, her beauty and innocence prove more...

Lord Waincliffe breaks his horse's bridle out riding one day and calls at the nearest house for help so that he can ride home safely. It belongs to Terence Stourton, a Professor of Literature, and he meets his daughter, Rosetta, who repairs the bridle for him. Not only does he think that Rosetta is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, but he feels there is something unusual about her. Only when he returns home does he realise that she bears an extraordinary resemblance to his sister, Dolina. Lord Waincliffe and his brother, Henry, are finding it very difficult to afford their house and estate and they have the idea that the Marquis of Millbrook, who lives nearby and is very rich, could help them build a Racecourse on both their estates that would solve all their financial woes. So they invite the Marquis, who is known for his love of beautiful women, and they expect their lovely sister to help them persuade him, but Dolina insists on going to London for a ball instead....

Lady Loretta's father, the well-respected Lord Lieutenant of the County, is doing his best to force her into marriage with the Marquis of Sauerdun, the son of a good friend. Whilst her father thinks he is making a good match for his beloved daughter, she is aghast at the thought of an arranged marriage and vows she will only marry for love.Searching her mind for a way to stay free to pursue the kind of love she has always dreamt of, she happens upon a good plan. What if she could prove to her straight-laced father that the man he means for her is not only an unsuitable husband, but a philandering rake too? With the Marquis's reputation for love affairs with beautiful, seductive and preferably married women well known in Society, surely this would not prove too difficult?Seizing upon this last ditch attempt to stay unmarried, Lady Loretta devises a scheme to prove to her father that her intended is an unrepentant heartbreaker.Throwing herself upon the charity and good...

Wealthy businessman John Gardner counts his wife, the widowed Countess Napier, as his finest possession. Beautiful, refined and a devoted mother, the Countess has the one thing that all his money cannot buy – a place in Society. When she dies still grieving for her first husband, the volatile Mr Gardener decides that his stepdaughter, Lady Selina, should become his passport into the titled classes. Eager to fit into a world that values birthright over cash, he decides to marry her off to the highest bidder. But he hasn't bargained for his vivacious stepdaughter's willful defiance. Determined to marry only for love, Selina flees the harsh discipline of Gardener Manor and takes her chances on the open road. Rescued from peril by the Marquis of Castleton, a serious and thoughtful man committed to doing his best for the people of his estate, Selina finds in him an unlikely ally. Equally appalled at plans for his own arranged marriage, the pair join forces against those...