If she wanted to save him, there was no room to hesitate… Resigned and dreading an arranged marriage that’s as ill-suited as it is unwanted, Lord Walraven accepts the invitation of a ramshackle acquaintance to journey to a house party in the far north of England as a last hurrah before accepting his fate. But in this helter-skelter party, schemes to ensnare Lord Walraven and his wealth are afoot. Anna Welbourne has been her brother’s drudge for years now. When she is sent by herself to prepare their ancestral home and its unsuspecting servants for his grand party, she is furious enough to try anything to rid herself of her brother’s cruel guardianship. But among his guests is a man to whom she owes a debt, and she must pay him back. So when, after a raucous game of cards, Anna sees the handsome Lord Walraven being swept off to Gretna Green by a conniving woman, she not only sees a chance to escape her brother, but a way to pay the debt.