Victory Summer

the long version

YOUNG LOVE, THROWN AWAY, MAY NEVER BE FOUND AGAIN... Jessica Lansdowne, a handsome woman whose sprightly manner hid a well-kept secret, at six and twenty had adjusted quite nicely to a life of quiet unmarried propriety. Until dashing Max returned. Or rather, Lord Brough, as he was now rightfully called. No longer the young roustabout with no manners and even less money whom Jessica, along with everyone else in town, had rejected years ago. And to make matters even more unbearable, Merry, Jessica's spirited niece and ward, had foolishly fallen in love with a handsome lieutenant. But a soldier without a war was a man with no prospects. Now Jessica was obliged to advise her dearest niece against a marriage of the heart-even as she felt herself falling in love all over again.