Fool's Masquerade

the long version

Valentine Ardsley disguised herself as a teenaged boy to take a job as a groom on the magnificent Yorkshire estate of the arrogantly self-assured, imperiously handsome, Lord Diccon Leyburn. But her daring escape from the narrow confines of young ladyhood did not last long. — Valentine was unmasked by Lord Leyburn with shameful ease. Even worse, when Leyburn made her an offer of marriage, he made it insultingly clear that this was a matter of duty on his part, and certainly not desire. Never would Valentine accept such an odious offer. Instead she would go to London to find a gentleman who would really love her -- even if this meant pretending she could love any man but the infuriatingly irresistible Lord Leyburn in return.