But the reader knows that the real culprit is our villain. Four years later, Sophy, now twenty-five, returns to London with her brother and sister. Her beauty draws much attention, but Sophy spurns all suitors. Her marriage was so dreadful that she has vowed never to marry again except for love alone. Then she meets Ives, Viscount Harrington.
Ives is a fine romance hero.
A former soldier, he has unexpectedly ascended to his family s title after his uncle, two cousins, and father die in a sailing accident. He is looking for a wife to secure the succession, but finds most of the young misses, well, young. Then he sees Sophy Marlowe. Despite the fact that she is the daughter of the woman he blames for his beloved older brother s suicide, he is smitten. Ives pursuit of Sophy takes on added urgency when Ives is recruited by his godfather to try to run the Fox to ground.