When Lady Mathilda Cavendish arrived at a house party hosted by her young cousin's suitor, she had only one goal in mind--to stop the proposed match. The chaperon never imagined that her cousin's betrothed would be the only man she'd ever loved--Crispin Malvern, the Duke of St. Ormond. A fate all the more cruel because one look told her that she'd never stopped loving a man who could never be hers.... Yet widowhood has given Tilda a strength she'd never possessed before. And when one night of passion unleashed her most secret longings, the unruly chaperon must decide whether to follow the dictates of decorum...or desire.