Lady Elizabeth Perronet is given a choice: stay in the convent for the rest of her life enduring misery and deprivation at the hands of a woman who abhors her, or take her wayward cousin's place and marry the infamous Lord Kirkheathe. Elizabeth has never had an easier decision to make in her life, and not even the first meeting with the intimidating, silent nobleman can dissuade her from her chosen course. Marrying for money and to produce an heir, Lord Kirkheathe trusts no one, and no woman most of all -- until Elizabeth Perronet forces her way into his lonely life, rekindling the embers of emotions he thought forever torn from his heart.