Overview
Taylor Stapleton was a lady, and ladies never lost their composure. Only her beloved grandmother, Lady Esther, knew how devastated she had been when her fiance eloped with Taylor's odious cousin, Jane. Now that good lady --- one of London's richest and most formidable matriarchs --- lay dying. But first she was going to help Taylor pull off the scam of the season.
Lucas Ross hated England. He hated the filthy air, the prissy men, and the simpering women. He'd come to London for one reason: to take his youngest half-brother home to live under the wide-open skies of his ranch in the Montana Territory. He'd been forced, incredibly, to purchase the boy's freedom from his legal guardian, who was not only Lucas's oldest half-brother --- and sole heir to their father's fortune --- he also happened to be the same vile scoundrel who had humiliated Taylor Stapleton. By marrying Taylor, Lucas figured he would gain financial freedom, help a beautiful lady --- and give his despised older brother a taste of his own medicine.
Taylor consented readily to her grandmother's scheme. Without Lucas as her protector, when Lady Esther died she would become her uncle's ward, and no doubt be forced into a marriage that would benefit his pocketbook at the expense of her heart. But Taylor had an urgent reason to go to America --- to collect a precious legacy that Lucas Ross needn't know about, yet.
As they set sail for America --- leaving behind a ballroom full of friends and relations still speechless over the news of their marriage, leaving England behind forever --- Taylor felt no regrets, only a wonderful, exhilarating sense of liberation. And, as her handsome new husband spoke of wild, rugged life in Montana --- never suspecting how Taylor's soul hungered for open spaces --- she began planning a new future. Their agreement was that Lucas would escort her safely to Boston, and they'd go their separate ways. But as soon as she found what she was looking for, she was going to join him in Montana. She was going to paradise ...
Lucas Ross hated England. He hated the filthy air, the prissy men, and the simpering women. He'd come to London for one reason: to take his youngest half-brother home to live under the wide-open skies of his ranch in the Montana Territory. He'd been forced, incredibly, to purchase the boy's freedom from his legal guardian, who was not only Lucas's oldest half-brother --- and sole heir to their father's fortune --- he also happened to be the same vile scoundrel who had humiliated Taylor Stapleton. By marrying Taylor, Lucas figured he would gain financial freedom, help a beautiful lady --- and give his despised older brother a taste of his own medicine.
Taylor consented readily to her grandmother's scheme. Without Lucas as her protector, when Lady Esther died she would become her uncle's ward, and no doubt be forced into a marriage that would benefit his pocketbook at the expense of her heart. But Taylor had an urgent reason to go to America --- to collect a precious legacy that Lucas Ross needn't know about, yet.
As they set sail for America --- leaving behind a ballroom full of friends and relations still speechless over the news of their marriage, leaving England behind forever --- Taylor felt no regrets, only a wonderful, exhilarating sense of liberation. And, as her handsome new husband spoke of wild, rugged life in Montana --- never suspecting how Taylor's soul hungered for open spaces --- she began planning a new future. Their agreement was that Lucas would escort her safely to Boston, and they'd go their separate ways. But as soon as she found what she was looking for, she was going to join him in Montana. She was going to paradise ...