: Linnet travels to Piers’ castle in Wales, setting the stage for their two-week courtship.

The story opens with Linnet Thrynne, a London debutante of exceptional beauty and even more exceptional conversational skills. She is the life of every party, but a scandal forces her father, the Duke of Fletcher, to find her a husband immediately. His shocking choice? The reclusive, ogre-like Earl of Marchant, known to the ton as "The Beast."