The Widowed Duke

She was ruined in her first week. He was the only man in London who didn't care. Arabella Finch is nineteen and already the wrong kind of notorious. Theodosius, Duke of Redgrave, is forty-two, a widower, and the most feared man at every ball he has ever bothered to attend. He offers her a dance out of pity. Then another out of curiosity. Then a courtship — public, brief, and ended by the end of the Season — for reasons that suit them both. She gets her reputation back. He gets his mother off his back. Two months. No scandal. A generous settlement. A clean exit. What Arabella does not agree to is the way he notices when the room goes quiet around her. What Theo does not agree to is the way he starts leaving the door to his library open. Some bargains are proper. Some are kept. Some are broken on purpose.