Every Lady Brought the Duke a Gift—Only the Governess Stayed Until His Hands Stopped Shaking

At a glittering Regency house party, every eligible lady offers Duke Lucian Hawthorne a gift designed to make her look desirable: a jeweled snuffbox, an Italian miniature, a rare stallion. Eleanor Vale, the quietly dismissed governess, brings nothing. When Lucian receives evidence that his late brother's estate agent has concealed the hardship of the estate's tenants, his composure breaks. Eleanor clears the room, gives him privacy without pity, and stays until he can face the truth. The romance is not about a woman curing him. It is about Eleanor seeing that dignity sometimes means staying close without demanding an explanation, and Lucian learning that power means acting when ugly truths are uncovered.