title: The Nude
author: McFalls, Dorothy
description: Elsbeth, Countess Mercer, recognizes Dionysus's work. This isn't the first time he's caused havoc in her life. This time, though, his painting has put her at the center of a vicious scandal, for the figure in the painting looks shockingly like her . . . nude. Before he can hurt her again, she sets out to find the artist and prove her own innocence.
  
  
  Nigel, the Marquess of Edgeware, has several problems of his own on his hands. A smuggling ring is using his Dorset estate's shoreline. Someone is trying to kill him. And now a feisty widow is coming close to discovering Dionysus's identity. Seducing the lady might be the swiftest course for diverting her attentions.
  
  
  He doesn't realize how such an affair would affect her heart . . . or his own.
  
  Hero: Nigel Purbeck, Marquess of Edgeware
  Heroine: Countess Elsbeth Mercer