The Autumn Rose

the long version

When Lady Beatrice, a marriage "consult" of wide renown, firsts sets eyes on her twenty-three-year-old protegee, Lady Caro, she is despondent. Too tall, too thin, too spunky, and almost "over the hill," Caro seems doomed to spinsterhood—until Beatrice conjures up an outrageous persona for the spirited Caro sure to set her off from the hordes of more conventional, and therefore more marriageable, debutantes. Lady Beatrice's ploy—and Caro's considerable natural charm—work all too well, and soon Caro finds herself pursued not only but her reserved kinsman Lord Seabury, but by the irresistible rogue Lord Mockabee as well. As London season reaches its glittering peak, Caro struggles to protect a friend's honor, preserve her own virtue, and win a love beyond Lady Beatrice's expectations.