His curiosity, a force that in him was as powerful as sexual desire, was deeply aroused.
In truth, in spite of what the London gossips believed, he did not have a current mistress.
He had not been involved with a woman for over four months. He and his last paramour, a strikingly beautiful widow in her late twenties, had gone their separate ways some time ago. The break had occurred after the lady had finally accepted the fact that Marcus did not intend to violate his rule against remarriage. The lovely widow had decided to pursue less elusive game.
Marcus could not help but wonder who the mysterious Mrs. Bright was. But he was even more intrigued by her daring.
Any woman who possessed the breathtaking courage to masquerade as his mistress at the highest levels of the ton promised to he interesting, indeed. Almost as interesting as the stars.
CHAPTER ONE
THE EARL OF MASTERS WAS ALIVE. Iphiginia Bright nearly fainted for the first time in her life when the earl entered the glittering ballroom. Her surroundings went into a slow spin as she struggled with the staggering shock.
The last thing she had expected to discover that night or any other night was that Masters was not dead after all.
He was alive. The shock receded as a dizzying sense of joy soared through her. Although she had never met him, she had spent a feverish fortnight learning everything she possibly could about the earl before she had gone into Society to masquerade as his mistress.
The most shattering thing that she had discovered during the course of her study was that he was the man of her dreams; a man she could have loved as she had never loved anyone else; the right man for her.
She had fully expected him to remain a figure of her most intimate fantasies forever. But here he was, a living, breathing reality.