The next thing Amy knows, she's at his estate after a drugged sleep--and is falling for the enigmatic stranger. Original.

    She has beauty, a generous dowry, and an impressive family name to recommend her. Her mother fears Constance will soon--gasp!--be relegated to the shelf. However, Lady Constance is in no hurry to wed. She has exacting requirements for a husband and intends to marry only when she finds the perfect gentleman-one that is worthy. She delights in her ability to control her own destiny. Until an encounter with a shadowy emigre, that is.Constance is certain that she can gracefully extricate herself from an unwanted engagement, while at the same time find a suitable mate for her friend and protect her innocent maid from the wiles of a sophisticated Frenchman. But can she protect her own heart from the attractions of her mysterious fiancé?

    Louisa Elliot nurtures a defiant spirit, while Lady Meg never dares to rebel or speak out. The only thing they have in common is that they were both orphaned as children and raised by their overbearing grandmother, Louisa Elliott, who has definite plans for their respective futures. The cousins are distraught when the countess decrees they shall be wed--Louisa to a timorous squire and Meg to the haughty Duke of Hargrove. Putting their differences aside, they form a bond to help each other out of their current predicaments. From the moment the Duke, Meg's intended, frees Louisa from a hollow log, his heart is ensnared and his carefully honed life set awry. Rumors of financial ruin, put about to aid the Duke's capture of an enemy agent, adds credence to the misinformation Louisa gathers to discredit him and save her cousin. As she builds her case, she realizes she is falling in love with him. Unhappy with his arrangement, Hargrove is forced to court Meg in order to see her spirited cousin. As Louisa's wedding date approaches, Hargrove decides to throw caution to the wind. Despite a tryst set with a French spy at his summer home, he invites the countess' party to join them. Amidst madcap chases, nefarious dealings, and kidnappings, and despite mounting evidence that Hargrove is a traitor, Louisa risks her life to prove his innocence and marry the man she really loves.

    His icy calm is as notorious as his untouchable heart. Undaunted, Lady Celia Greer, an exuberant young widow, vows to melt his frosty demeanor. If ever there has been a gentleman worth saving from his own cold prison, it is Kendal. And if ever there has been a woman for the job, it is she. Lucy in Disguise Miss Lucy Preston rues the day she rescued a wounded smuggler from the quicksand of a Lancashire beach. For Christopher Valliant, an infuriatingly curious rascal, quickly discovers that she is helping a frightened young lady running from danger. What's more, despite Lucy's stubborn opposition, he's determined to help the fair damsels - motivated by nothing less than pure, glorious love....

    Her family is numerous and loving, her friends many and her year is a satisfactory round of charitable work, social events, and summer visits to nearby Harrowgate. She expects that she will marry within her class and continue her life in much the same pattern. Her opinions of the aristocracy are low. On the evidence of limited association and much superficial evidence, Dinah believes all noblemen to be expensive idlers. All her preconceptions are challenged, on a summer visit to her grandmother in Harrowgate, by a meeting with Sebastian Delamain, Viscount Holly. Holly is inquisitive, active and unpretentious. Though obviously disconcerted by family life as she understands it, he quickly becomes a favourite of her several brothers and sisters, and engages her affections with remarkable ease and grace. The summer of 1812 is coloured, for the manufacturers of the north, by the activities of those calling themselves Luddites who are desperately opposed to the new machinery changing the cloth manufacturing industry. The Luddite riots and frame breaking create a tense autumn during which Sebastian tries to convince Dinah that aristocrats, like people of all classes, deserve to be considered on individual merits. Holly finds nothing difficult or confusing about their growing attachment and is convinced that their love is all they need to create whatever future they wish for themselves. Dinah, torn between her love for the viscount and her loyalty to her class, cannot believe that society's barriers can be easily overcome. Extraordinary events will be required to convince her. Sebastian, with the love of his life and a whole new family at hazard, is willing to undertake any challenge.