The Jilter by Kate Archer

A Cautious Lady and a Courageous Lord

Six highly placed matrons mourn their lack of daughters until they devise a scheme to launch eligible girls in need of assistance, and so The Society of Sponsoring Ladies is born.

Lady Prudence Landry, only daughter of the Earl of Copeland, has been besieged by Lord Luckstone. He has told the neighborhood that they are engaged and he attempts admittance to the house daily. She never agreed to such a thing and she and her elderly father have all but barricaded themselves inside. When there seems nowhere to turn, the earl sends an urgent message to his cousin, Lady Featherstone.
Lady Featherstone is baffled by Lord Luckstone, but there is nothing she likes so much as a mystery. She sets off for Kent with the redoubtable Lady Heathway, determined to bring Lady Prudence to London. It is finally her turn to act as mama to a charming young lady.
Ambrose Thorpe, Marquess of Ryland, is larger than life and the founder of the Society for Advancing Criminal Knowledge. The ton believes the lord merely wishes to assist the crown, but he has another reason for involving himself in England’s underbelly—long ago, someone murdered his father for a famed diamond the lord never had in his possession. Lady Featherstone is one of his longstanding members and when she summons him to the earl’s estate, he promptly answers the call.
With the help of Lord Ryland, Lady Prudence has left Lord Luckstone behind in Kent. She has also learned a few things about her inclinations, thanks to her recent harassment at the hands of a gentleman. As she thinks of her future, she’s decided she will only wed a very mild man.