Althea Ingram found no gentleman she could look up to among the London dandies and fortune-hunters. But in Europe she discovered John Maitland, Earl of Montmorcy, who personified her idea of the ideal husband. Unfortunately, it appeared that Montmorcy found her delicate and beautiful companion, Cecily de Lisl, more to his taste than the regally tall and lovely Althea. But her heart was already captured? Regency Romance by Emily Hendrickson; originally published by Signet

A promise is binding, a sworn oath. Once given it cannot be taken back, or so Althea believed. After she promises her father she will marry Captain Grindall, a man her mother has chosen, Althea finds herself caught in a treacherous conspiracy that reaches further than she could have suspected. As the French Revolution winds down across the Channel and Bonaparte seizes power, Althea finds herself drawn to the Duke of Argyll and begins to question the integrity of her heart. Meticulously researched, the reader will be taken through the social whirl of early Regency London, provincial life in Perth, Scotland, and into the world smuggling along the Kent Coast.

To which is prefixed a concise history of English and American Short horns, compiled from the best authorities.