Grace Eversleigh knows she owes her eternal gratitude to the Dowager Duchess of Wyndham, who offered her a position as companion after her parents died and left her impoverished. The Dowager believes in the rigid social order of God, King and Duke with everyone else subservient. She frequently reminds Grace of her lowly position with demands that demonstrate her power. The Dowager's world turns upside down when a highwayman sets upon their carriage. She recognizes the leader as the spitting image of her late son. The glib bandit acknowledges the possibility, but thwarts the Dowager when he turns his attention to Grace. Grace receives her first kiss and loses her heart to the charming rogue.

Captain Jack Audley, recently discharged from the Army, embraces his new career as a highwayman. He prefers to think of himself as the new Robin Hood. After robbing the Wyndham coach, Jack is forced to confront his past and face the unbelievable fact that he could be the Duke of Wyndham. His new families consist of his grandmother, the disagreeable and arrogant Dowager and his shocked cousin, Thomas. Jack's world will undergo major upheavals while Thomas' world plummets. Since birth, Thomas has been taught his responsibilities to the title. His whole identity is tied to the title.

Grace places herself between Thomas and Jack trying to placate the high emotional turmoil. The Dowager with her biting and snide remarks to Thomas keeps the tension high. Grace's heart nearly breaks as she falls in love with Jack knowing he must marry Amelia Willoughby who was contracted at birth to marry the future Duke of Wyndham.

I do not think it is possible for Ms. Quinn to write a bad story. She always entertains with tales that overflow with wit, drama and sparkling repartee. In an unusual twist, Ms. Quinn has written Thomas' point of view of the tale in MR. CAVENDISH, I PRESUME, coming in October. The stories were written simultaneously for accuracy.

Book Summary

Will the Real Duke of Wyndham Please Stand Up?

Jack Audley has been a highwayman. A soldier. And he has always been a rogue. What he is not, and never wanted to be, is a peer of the realm, responsible for an ancient heritage and the livelihood of hundreds. But when he is recognized as the long-lost son of the House of Wyndham, his carefree life is over. And if his birth proves to be legitimate, then he will find himself with the one title he never wanted: Duke of Wyndham.

Grace Eversleigh has spent the last five years toiling as the companion to the dowager Duchess of Wyndham. It is a thankless job, with very little break from the routine... until Jack Audley lands in her life, all rakish smiles and debonair charm. He is not a man who takes no for an answer, and when she is in his arms, she's not a woman who wants to say no. But if he is the true duke, then he is the one man she can never have...