New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh returns to the seductive world she knows so well-Regency England-in a new novel filled with her trademark wit, sensuality, and breathtaking storytelling. With this, the first in a dazzling new quartet of novels, Balogh invites us into a special world-a select academy for young ladies-a world of innocence and temptation. Drawing us into the lives of four women, teachers at Miss Martin's School for Girls, Balogh introduces this novel's marvelous heroine: music teacher Frances Allard-and the man who seduces her with a passion no woman could possibly forget.... They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a secret past. He is the cool, black-caped stranger who unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Between these two unlikely strangers, desire is instantaneous...and utterly impossible to resist. Stranded together in a rustic country inn, Lucius Marshall, who is the Viscount Sinclair, and Frances Allard share a night of glorious,