The maid of Milan

the long version

How much would you pay for a clear conscience? Adelaide Leeson wants to prove herself worthy of her husband, a man of noble aspirations who married her when she was at her lowest ebb. Lord Tristan Leeson is a model of diplomacy and self-control, even curbing the fiery impulses of his youth to preserve the calm relations deemed essential by his mother-in-law to preserve his wife's health. A visit from his boyhood friend, feted poet Lord James Dewhurst, persuades Tristan that leaving the countryside behind for a London season will be in everyone's interests. But as Tristan's political career rises and Adelaide revels in society's adulation, the secrets of the past are uncovered. And there's a high price to pay for a life of deception.