An evocative Regency romance dusted with grittiness, grief, and healing, perfect for fans of Meredith Duran and Cecilia Grant. Duty is her strength . . . Sophie St. Quinton’s life did not end when her brother died, but her purpose for living diminished considerably: marry a nobleman to protect the family estate and ease her parents’ worries. Armed with wit, beauty, and a charitable heart, Sophie expects the task will be simple—until a ghostly reminder of the past resurfaces to rattle her world. She will stop at nothing, not even blackmailing the handsome stranger she just met, to bid her brother farewell one last time. And his worst enemy . . . Merchants’ sons are not welcomed in polite society, but Rafe Balfour elbows his way in for the same reason he does all things—to do the bidding of his tyrannical father. If his loyalty proves successful one last time, he’ll earn his long-sought independence. But when his secrets land him in a dark room and a second stint in servitude with a beautiful woman far above his touch, the effect could be disastrous. What begins as a threat to their goals soon expands to more: a threat to duty, to decency, and to two grieving hearts that promised never to risk love.