Loved by London’s ladies and loathed by their husbands, with whom he frequently duels, confirmed bachelor and notorious womaniser Stanwin, Marquis of Weybourne is in trouble with his Queen. As punishment she makes him chaperone her Goddaughter Clotilda on her reluctant journey to the Balkan state of Bãlutik, where the Queen has arranged for her to marry the reigning Prince Fredrick.
Forced to leave behind everything she loves, including her beloved horse Swallow, Clotilda is inconsolable. Stanwin isn’t happy either — and Clotilda is chilled to the core by his contemptuous, cynical manner. But not as chilled as she is by the sheer depravity and sexual sadism of the man she is to marry. And when the true horror or Clotilda’s predicament is revealed and she’s kidnapped by murderous brigands, Stanwin knows that for the very first time he has lost his heart to this lovely young innocent — and that he’ll stop at nothing to save her.
