Lord Richard Wells, Duke of Crewe, had shocked the Regency world bysailing off to darkest Africa. Now, five years later, his lovelydaughter, Julianne, returned to London with a story of her father'stragic death and her own miraculous rescue by the notorious Englishadventurer, John Champernoun. Little did aristocratic society suspectwhat really had happened in Africa, nor did Julianne want that truthrevealed. For Julianne was determined to leave her perilous past farbehind, and find happiness in a supremely safe marriage to thesplendidly handsome, wealthy, honorable and adoring Lord WilliamRutherford. But Julianne was about to learn that she knew more about theheart of the dark continent than she did about her own - when JohnChampernoun reentered her life to wake memories and desires assharp-clawed as leopards and even more dangerous...