The Wicked Marquis

Esme Leonardo becomes embroiled in her English cousins' tangled love affairs, and her plotting leads to a pretend engagement to the Marquis of Locklynde, an arrogant aristocrat with a reputation as a rake. DARING PLOY IN THE GAME OF LOVE Lovely young Esme, recently orphaned and nearly penniless, arrived at her uncle's country home to the delight of her four cousins. High spirited and well versed in the ways of the world, Esme had all the charm to make her unconventional behavior quite forgivable. When Esme discovered that her cousin Kit was about to forsake love for an arranged marriage, the wonderfully imaginative Esme was compelled to give Cupid a hand. Her daring ruse involved betrothing herself to a man she had never met ... a man with a very wicked reputation. When Esme finally does meet her "intended," the entrancingly mysterious Marquis of Lockynde, her innocent game takes a startling turn as unexpected but undeniable attraction begins to bloom.