

Unwilling as he is to be involved with them, he must assume responsibility for his younger siblings, the family estate he once loved-and the succession. Betrayed by his elder brother, rejected by his fiancée, banished by his father, and shunned by his mother, Luke fled to Paris, where he became the most sought-after bachelor in fashionable society.Ten years later, fate has brought him back home to England as head of the family who rejected him. From New York Times bestselling legend Mary Balogh-and the beloved author of Longing, Silent Melody, and Beyond the Sunrise-comes a ravishing novel of passion and duty, love and menace.Life has taught Lucas Kendrick, Duke of Harndon, that a heart is a decided liability. But for her, marriage cannot so easily solve what is wrong in her lifenot when a tormentor stalks her to the very doors of Bowden Abbey, where Luke and Anna must learn to trust in each other or risk any chance they may have for a happy future.


He faces the prospect of marrying with the greatest reluctanceuntil he sees beguiling Lady Anna Marlowe across a ballroom one night.Anna, far from being the bright-eyed innocent Luke takes her for, is no more a stranger to the shadows of a painful past than he is. Unwilling as he is to be involved with them, he must assume responsibility for his younger siblings, the family estate he once lovedand the succession. Betrayed by his elder brother, rejected by his fiance, banished by his father, and shunned by his mother, Luke fled to Paris, where he became the most sought-after bachelor in fashionable society.Ten years later, fate has brought him back home to England as head of the family who rejected him. From New York Times bestselling legend Mary Baloghand the beloved author of Longing, Silent Melody, and Beyond the Sunrisecomes a ravishing novel of passion and duty, love and menace.Life has taught Lucas Kendrick, Duke of Harndon, that a heart is a decided liability.
