"Stay where you are, or I'll pull the trigger!" Cherryanne Devenish meant every world she said.

If the Marquis of Shalford moved one pace nearer she was prepared to shoot him. Yet still the arrogant Marquis chose to ignore her threat. He stepped forward confidently, his hand outstretched for the gun.

Desperately, Cherryanne repeated her warning. "Go back, or I shall fire!" But her last word was drowned by the thunderous report of the pistol.

The handsome face in the picture was that of the man who had stolen her heart on a single encounter - a stranger she had never expected to see again. Cherryanne should have been thrilled at the thought of his reentering her life. But he was betrothed to another.