Tobias “Thorn” Daultry is the eldest of the Duke of Villiers‘ seven illegitimate children. He spent the first part of his life, before he was rescued and taken in by his powerful father, as a mudlark in the Thames, risking his miserable life on a daily basis to dive for trinkets in the dangerous river currents. As an adult, he has made his own fortune, completely independent of his father, and is looking to settle down. He’s decided that Letitia “Lala” Rainsford is the perfect bride for him. She’s very beautiful and likely to be a kind mother to his children, and her father is in a financial bind, so unlikely to mind that Thorn is a bastard, what with him being obscenely wealthy as well. That’s she’s widely rumoured to be dumb as a box of hair is irrelevant to him, he doesn’t require wits and brains in a wife. Lala’s mother, is his biggest obstacle. She’s a snob and very proud of the fact that she was once an attendant to the queen. To win Miss Rainsford’s hand in marriage, Thorn first has to impress his future mother-in-law.
He buys a large estate outside London, but the previous owner may or may not have used it as a brothel, and he needs someone with impeccable taste and breeding to decorate it for him. His step-mother, Lady Eleanor, recommends Lady Xenobia India St. Clair, who makes a living sorting out the households of others. India’s parents were whatever the 18th Century version of hippies would be, certainly not very responsible, with India often having to barter so they’d get food on the table. After they died, she moved in with her godmother and now, nearly twenty-six years old, she’d like to find a nice, biddable gentleman who wouldn’t mind her controlling the household and finances and settle down.
Sparks obviously fly from the first time Thorn and India meet. She reluctantly agrees to refurbish his entire house. What happens next? Find out on my blog.