In the eyes of her family, Chastity Shackleford was impulsive, flighty, overly emotional and inclined to sentimental overtures. All in all, a disaster waiting to happen should she accept the Duke of Blackmore's offer of a Season in London. But what else was she to do since her twin sister and best friend had abandoned her for the wilds of Cornwall? Naturally she might have hoped that disaster had waited a little longer before striking, but at least she faced the possibility of marriage with someone who had all his own teeth. The fact that the gentleman was also wanted for murder was a little off-putting, but then one couldn't have everything. When Christian Stanhope was forced to jump ship after being accused of a crime he didn't commit, he'd never expected to return to England. But then he'd never expected to become the next Earl of Cottesmore either. However, if he was to survive the merciless world of England's aristocracy, clearing his name was essential. And for that he needed the help of his former First Lieutenant Nicholas Sinclair, now the Duke of Blackmore. But first he had to convince the Duke that he was not guilty of a heinous murder committed seventeen years earlier. A task easier said than done. But just when he despaired of ever finding the real culprit and bringing him to justice, help, or possibly hindrance, arrived from an unexpected quarter…