For three years, Rede has been searching Canada for those who ordered the murders of his wife and children.Now back in England, he has inherited an Earldom from his cousin George, and is close to finding the investors who ordered the deaths in an attempt to destroy Rede's fur trading enterprise. He travels to his country estate in Longford, West Gloucestershire, to be close to the investigation.He does not need the distraction of an overwhelming longing for the lovely widow who lives in one of the cottages he owns. A widow, moreover, with a small daughter whose distinctive eyes mark her as George's child.For six years, from the night Anne blackmailed George at arrow-point for an income and a place to live, she has been in hiding with her sisters and daughter.She hides from the scandal of her daughter's conception. More importantly, she hides from the Earl of Selby, who has sinister plans for the sisters. He no longer has legal rights as guardian to the older sisters, but the youngest sister is still only 18. He cannot be allowed to find her.The last thing Anne needs is an inconvenient attraction to the local Earl. Rede is everything she has learned not to trust: a man, a peer, a Redepenning. If he finds out who she is, she may lose everything.As their attraction builds against a backdrop of the village Whitsun Week festivities, several accidents make Rede believe his enemies have found him, and leads Anne to wonder whether Selby has found her.