HE HAD RENOUNCED ALL HOPE OF LOVE, SHE WOULD BRAVE ANY STORM TO POSSESS HIM. Lady Cecily Landsowne was the exquisite jewel of London society, her violet-eyed grace acclaimed by the highest in the land. But it was Captain Ransom Tremayne who ignited her soul with the first stirrings of a woman's passion. Ransom —- whose hard, bronzed features spoke of distant, tropical climes —- and of a past that marked him as surely as the cruel scar upon his lean and sculpted cheek. And though his roguish fame brought him to many a lady's bed, there was something in Cecily's fierce innocence that awoke long-forgotten yearnings and raw, tender hungers in his most secret dreams ... But the past was rising once more, in an ancient, hideous crime the Ransom was bound in honor to avenge —- though it struck at the heart of Cecily's protected world. Together they would defy the greed, ruthless ambition, and searing disgrace that sought to destroy them. For only in love's embrace could they capture the radiant promise that was so precious, so fragile ...