Her life depended on his name. His heart depended on her love.

It was a most humiliating situation. Mistress Claire Curran of London arrived at the Virginia office of her uncle's solicitor knowing nothing of the private correspondence she bore. With a simple break of the seal, she was hopelessly trapped in a shameless bargain: her hand given in marriage to a stranger to clear an unpaid debt. Alone and penniless, at first she has no means of escaping her lowly fate. But she pledges to be no man's pawn in such a dishonorable game--and certainly no man's wife. With a sharp mind and an unbreakable spirit, Claire devises to play the part of Rosewind's mistress...but only until she can find a way out.

Devon Rivard finds himself in a maddening dilemma: he can either sell his ancestral home to pay his brother's gambling debts, or marry one Claire Curran, the fiery-tempered messenger who has so innocently tossed the black-hearted ultimatum into his lap. Resigned yet furious, he vows to annul the marriage once the debt is cleared. But as he comes to know the independent yet vulnerable and undeniably lovely Claire, an even more difficult dilemma arises. She wins his heart, a prize he thought forever safely walled away. He knows he can't make her love him, but he can't bear to lose her. Can he convince her to stay by his side as the clouds of war gather, or will circumstances beyond his control take her away from him forever?