<p>Melissa Wade faced a choice. Marry the odious Dan Thorpe or be whipped until she did by her crude and cruel stepmother. Desperate to escape this unthinkable future, she pretends to be a lady's maid to her best friend, Cheryl. Together they travel to meet Cheryl's uncle, the Duke of Aldwick, whose reputation as a pompous, commanding cynic and hater of women proceeds him. Had Melissa escaped one situation, only to enter a more dangerous one?<br...