There are worse things than hiding in a derelict old cottage, battling field mice, and sucking on one's last lemon. Or so Lady Annabella Price firmly believes. For example, spending the Season in London with her stepbrother and husband hunting, as her mother has ordered. Instead, Annabella sends her maid in her place and exults in her questionable triumph... Until the insufferable Lord Seabrook shows up.It seems like a simple favor for a friend, something to distract him from his need to find an acceptable wife. Jonathan Durham, Fourth Earl of Seabrook, travels to Haselmere to find the duke's stepsister and make certain no harm has befallen her. But Annabella is no damsel in distress. She's a willful, spirited lady, and the impetuous beauty intrigues Seabrook. When they're caught in a compromising position and forced into a hurried marriage, Seabrook sees it as the perfect solution to both their problems. But how can he convince his unwilling bride to give their marriage a chance when she's determined to have it dissolved?