The tenth earl of Berham did not know what to do. An attractive thirty-two-year-old bachelor, he was appointed guardian of one Freddie Armstrong, the eighteen-year-old grandson of his late father's dear friend. That was bad enough. Then he discovered the boy was really a girl! It simply would not do to keep an unchaperoned young lady in his home. The earl's frequent visitor, Lady Clarissa Rennenord, heartily agreed--but for less noble reasons. Hoping to snare the earl in marriage, her ladyship did not want any competition. She recommended that Freddie be sent to a seminary. No one but Lady Rennenord knew what a horrid place it was. No one, including Lady Rennenord, expected Freddie to escape.Now Freddie was back. And the earl found her presence disturbing in more ways than one....

After ten long years, the Earl of Devenham had returned to wed Mary Anstey, only to find that their feelings for each other had cooled off considerably. Nevertheless, they both put on bright faces for the benefit of family and friends. But Mary's younger sister Emily saw through their masquerade. She would sacrifice anything rather than see her retiring sister married to the now haughty earl. Desperate measures were called for ... a sleeping draught in Mary's wedding-morning chocolate and Emily could don the veil and force an annulment when the trick was discovered. It was the kind of plot that could--and would--get young Emily in trouble....