Gerrard Debbington is one of the chosen few who've learned their social and amorous skills from the masters. Handsome and wealthy, the protege and brother-in-law of Vane Cynster is one of the most eligible gentlemen in the ton, besieged by offers from London's beauties. Yet as the ton's foremost artistic lion, there's only one offer he seeks--to paint the fantastical but selfom-seen gardens of reclusive Lord Tregonning's Hellebore Hall. That chance...

On a hunt for her family's treasure, orphaned and near penniless Emily Beauregard takes a position as an innkeeper for Jonas Tallent, Lucifer Cynster's brother-in-law, in the Devon town of Colyton. But someone else also has the Colyton treasure in their sights, and the closer Em draws to her family's legacy the greater the danger grows ... to her, her family, and the treasure she's discovered in Jonas's arms.

As the six Cynster families gather together for the holidays at snowbound Casphairn Manor in Scotland, Claire Meadows, widow and governess to Gabriel Cynster's daughter starts a relationship with tutor Daniel Crosbie.

Thomas Carrick leaves his business behind to look into some trouble on his family's estate, an investigation that forces him to work with Lucilla Cynster, who believes that they are destined to marry, despite Thomas's objections.