A Reluctant Romance

How does a very wealthy commoner (and former thief) join the nobility?  Morris Pendergast decides to buy an impoverished nobleman as a husband for his daughter Catherine.

Stephen St. James, Viscount Leister, is the perfect choice.  Young, strong, and very handsome, he is working hard – but without success – to restore his impoverished estate.  Without the money and resources Morris Pendergast offers, Stephen will lose it.  To prevent the loss of his lands and the devastation this would cause his tenants, he grits his teeth and accepts Morris’ offer. 

Catherine never thought she would get married.  Her father had trained her to take over the family businesses and seemed to expect her to shoulder the responsibilities when he was ready to retire, and this was what she wanted out of life.  When her father springs a husband on her she is reluctant, but eventually goes along.  However—as a proper young Victorian lady, she has absolutely no idea what marital duties entail.  When she discovers exactly what Stephen expects, she tosses him out of the marriage bed. 

Then, just as she discovers that those “marital duties” aren’t so bad after all and things are finally beginning to go well for Stephen and Catherine, Catherine discovers a devastating secret that threatens the very foundation of their marriage.