Orlena could hardly believe her eyes.

There, standing in front of her, was her new Guardian, the Earl of Ulverston, the man her late father had chosen to protect her large fortune.

But this was no elderly, solicitous friend of her father's. Nor was he a stranger to Orlena.

This was the very man she had met the night before at the posting inn -- the man who swept her into his arms and thrilled her senses with a kiss of passion.