An unexpected and passionate reunion leaves a lady caught between her senses and sensibilities.

When Lady Mathilda Cavendish arrived at a house party hosted by her young cousin's suitor, she had only one goal in mind—to stop the proposed match. The chaperon never imagined that her cousin's betrothed would be the only man she'd ever loved—Crispin Malvern, the Duke of St. Ormond. A fate all the more cruel because one look told her that she'd never stopped loving a man who could never be hers . . .

Yet widowhood has given Tilda a strength she'd never possessed before. And when one night of passion unleashed her most secret longings, the unruly chaperon must decide whether to follow the dictates of decorum . . . or desire.