

Because the men rode into Pixham, bold as you please, made the acquaintance of Tessa and her friends, and before anyone could say, “And from where do you hail, sir?” they were betrothed to the girls, then married, then . . . “And married to who?” the gossips had asked. Tessa was one of three local girls, all friends, all with dowries well over £10,000, who sprinted down the aisle in less than six weeks’ time. The lies (or rather the failed lies) began in the October of 1830, when a trio of marriages swept the village of Pixham in Surrey like a crisp autumn wind. On what occasion did she have to lie, considering all this?

Hers was a charmed existence, simple and expected and fun. Lying was a challenge for Tessa, perhaps because of her parents, who had always given her everything her heart desired, and her four brothers, who had doted on her since birth.

Not without feeling as if the acid of the lie was burning a hole through the underside of her heart and her spirit was slowly leaking out. But is it strength enough to forgive Joseph’s bitterness and melt his cautious, guarded heart? Tessa, meanwhile, has been strengthened by motherhood and life in London. Can he tell the difference between curiosity and unexpected desire? Again and again, he finds himself cautiously returning to Belgravia to unravel the mystery of the stranger who is also his wife. To his surprise, Tessa is nothing like the conniving strategist he had painted in his memory. When a shipping deal goes bad on his first return trip to London, Joseph Chance is forced to seek out his estranged wife and the baby who now bears his name. He’s too much of a gentleman to divorce her, but he stashes her with her friends in a townhome in Belgravia and leaves the country, nursing his feelings of betrayal. Her weeks of affection and devotion now seem calculating and disingenuous, and her professed love was clearly a lie. Devastated and betrayed, Joseph rejects everything he thought he knew about the new Mrs. Joseph Chance thought he’d met the perfect girl from the perfect family and was destined, finally, for a perfect life-until his new wife informs him that she is carrying another man’s child. She manages the wedding ceremony but cannot go through with their wedding night without a confession. It’s a perfect plan until Tessa finds herself falling in love with the smart, handsome Joseph Chance and consumed with guilt about her lie of omission. Chance into marrying her, the baby may be passed off as his own and Tessa can forget her disgrace and that terrible night. To the rescue comes the self-made man of Joseph Chance, a shipping merchant in the market for a society wife. Croix pregnant and abandoned, she fears disinheritance from her wealthy parents. When an act of quiet violence leaves country beauty Tessa St.
