By love beguiled

the long version

HE TAUGHT HER THE MEANING OF ECSTASY --BUT COULD SHE WIN HIS HEART? Widowed after seven years of celibate marriage to a man old enough to be her father, Lysette Ravaisson is still young, lovely, and free at last to seek the love she longs for. But the burden of her late husband's debts forces her to a fateful decision: she must abandon Saint-Cloud, her beloved plantation home and her loyal servants, or marry wealthy Nicholas Callaway, the man with whom she had once shared a brief moment of passion, but who now seems cynical and cold. Their marriage of convenience begins with deep misunderstandings on both sides. Yet within Lysette's vulnerable heart a hidden love smolders into a flame of passion strong enough to withstand jealousy, abduction, and tragic loss--everything except the indifference of the husband she has learned to adore....