Lord Melburne was bored. Bored with his current mistress, bored with Lady Romayne Ramsey’s attempts to entice him into marriage, bored even with being one of the leaders of Regency Society. Now some unknown girl had written to him, telling him that a country neighbour, Sir Roderick Verney, was at the point of death and was asking for him. So tiresome, having to visit his estates. But the visit was to end Lord Melburne’s boredom. The unknown girl, Clarinda, turned out to be a beauty—and a beauty with a violent hatred for him. Her reasons he could not guess. Nor would she tell him even after he had had to rescue her from the terror and degradation of a Hell Fire Club ceremony. It was only after he had fallen hopelessly in love that he was to discover the truth.