The Most Honorable Terms by Valerie Lennox
Elizabeth is spending the summer at Barralds, a country estate owned by a rich upstart from trade named Houseman. She arrives with no knowledge that her husband, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, has met his demise in France, or that Mr. Darcy will be there.
She is only concerned with the proximity to the estate of the family of the man who may have been her father by blood, the late Duke of Neithern. Elizabeth desperately wishes to untangle the secrets of her past. Who is she? Where did she come from?
She does not care about an inheritance or an acknowledgment, even though, as the legitimate daughter of a duke, she would be entitled to something.
What happens, however, is that Mr. Darcy is distracting.
They spend too much time together.
He is as devoted to her as ever, though he is far too honorable to renew any of his romantic intentions, not if she is his cousin’s wife. Maddeningly, however, he is everywhere, and he is handsome, and she is drawn to him.
It is a summer of secrets, of repressed longing, of the schemes and matchmaking of others, all hurtling towards the midsummer masque at Neithern Hall, when all the secrets will be laid bare.
Dear reader, this book is for readers who love our dear couple achingly near to each other but never quite touching. Tease and release is the name the game. Also, scandalous backstories, all manner of titled men behaving badly, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
