LOVE UNDER MISTAKEN IDENTITY
The ton calls her Sweet Maria and, even in her fourth Season, eligibles continue to offer her marriage. They do not know Lady Maria despises the hypocritical ways of Polite Society and is trying to sail away to America!
Though she is the granddaughter of a duke, Lady Maria is a Child of Scandal because her mother was an American commoner.
She blames the duke and the duchess for her parents’ death. Had they not disowned them, they would not have died of a virulent fever in America, leaving her an orphan at the age of five.
Lady Maria agrees to an arranged match to ward off her persistent suitors, treating the engagement as a sham one to be ended at her convenience.
Then, most unexpectedly, she finds love with a commoner.
Only he isn’t a commoner but the Earl of Daventon.
Gareth, Earl of Daventon is no stranger to Scandal. Rumour has it that his father had banished his mother for adulterous behavior. And yet, he yearned until his last breath to have her back. Gareth is determined not to repeat his sire’s mistake. Love is a quagmire and I shall not be caught in it.
But love finds him. The object of his ardour is a mysterious young woman who dresses like a shop girl and behaves like a lady.
Lord Daventon remedies the situation by accepting an arranged match, his betrothed being Lady Maria whom he hasn’t met.
All of which leads to a delightful tangle of affairs.