Struck from the Book

Fifty guineas says she will be ruined by Whitsun. The only man who bet against it is the one she wants.

Bury St Edmunds, May 1819. Henrietta Ashfield has been the beauty of the assemblies for three seasons and knows exactly how the machine of a ladys reputation works. Then she learns that Mr Jermy, a hunting man she twice declined to dance with, has entered her name in the hunts betting book.

One gentleman took the other side: Christopher Hensby, the careful junior partner at Oakess bank, who said "done" only to shut the thing up. He has kept a scrupulous distance ever since. A man who wagers on a ladys conduct and then marries her before the bet settles will be said to have fixed it, and a bank lives on its name.

So they contrive to be alone, over her late fathers securities after the shutters are up and in the dusk of the Abbey Gardens, while the town watches and Jermy watches hardest. When they are caught four days before the settlement, it is Henrietta who sees the only way out. To win her, Hensby must lose.

Perfect for fans of Sarah MacLean and Courtney Milan.