It is whispered behind the fans of London''s dowagers and in the corners of the fashionable ballrooms that scandal follows wilfully wild Lady Beatrix Lennox wherever she goes. Three years earlier, the debutante created a sensation by being found in a distinctly compromising position. Now the ton has branded her as unmarriageable, her family has called her a vixen, and Beatrix sees no reason not to go after what - and who - she wishes.

And she wants Stephen Fairfax-Lacy, the handsome Earl of Spade. Beatrix, with her brazen suggestions and irresistibly sensuous allure, couldn''t be more different from the earl''s ideal future bride. Yet Beatrix brings out a wildness in him that he has tried to deny for far too long. Still, he''s not about to play love''s game by Lady Beatrix''s rules. She may be used to being on top in affairs of the heart, but that will soon change.