Abigail Wendover, 'on the shelf' at twenty-eight…is determined to prevent her pretty and high-spirited niece from becoming attached to a good-looking town-beau and an acknowledged fortune-hunter of shocking reputation. Unfortunately, that means a confrontation with his scandalous uncle. Miles Calverleigh, the black sheep of his family, is enormously rich from a long sojourn in India, has a scandalous past, and is not at all inclined toward good manners. Miles turns out to be the most provoking creature Abigail has ever met—with a disconcerting ability to throw her into giggles at quite the wrong moment… Could he be Abby's most important ally in keeping her niece from a most unfortunate match? "Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen."— "A writer of great wit and style… I've read her books to ragged shreds."—Kate Fenton, "Her books are always bestsellers, but none has dominated the rest of the field quite like this one."—