Erotic sketches, a blackmail letter, a closeted aristocrat, his ambitious lover, and a sacrificial murder. Love, betrayal, deception and vengeance in Regency's London's art world.George Rowlands, an aspiring young painter and apprentice to his father in the Haymarket theatre, meets Sir Henry Wallace while drawing the river at Richmond. Wallace invites George to his home in St. James's square to draw his collection of sculpture and his good-looking valet Gregorio Franchese. Securing him a place to study painting at the Royal Academy of Arts under the eccentric Gothic painter, Henry Fuseli, George meets the mysterious John McCarther who befriends him. Meanwhile, Lady Arabella Wallace records in her diary her suspicions about her husband's night-time absences and his 'enthusiasm' for his new protege. George discovers his every move with Wallace is being watched after Wallace confesses his love for him. Mixing history with passion and drama, and touching on the dark and erotic aspects of the all-male Royal Academy, The Pretty Gentleman is a historical thriller which explores the themes of love, power, betrayal and truth in Regency society.