Journeys (Heartsong Presents #663)

the long version

Lady Dorothea Witherspoon is desperate. After her mother died, her heartbroken father squandered the family fortune on gambling, leaving Dorothea destitute. As a last resort, she visits a distant cousin to ask for ten thousand pounds so she can avoid debtor's prison. Lord Stratford Brunswich is taken by Lady Witherspoon's beauty and nature, but it's Lord Hopewell-Smithers who presents himself as Dorothea's knight in shining armor when he offers to pay her debt in full. Only Dorothea doesn't know that his proposal comes at a great price. Stratford knows of the treacherous game Smithers is playing, but can he expose Smithers and rescue Dorothea, the woman he has grown to love, before it's too late?