The Whole Hall Laughed at the Scarred Duke — Only the Penniless Tenant's Daughter Asked Him One T...

What would you do if the only man who could save your family was the one person every room full of people laughed at? What if you walked up to him anyway — and he still said no? When Emmeline Darwood arrived at the Harcourt Hall autumn gathering in her dead mother's gown, she had four sentences prepared and one chance to say them. The Duke of Mercastle had been in hiding for nine years. The moment he walked in, two hundred people laughed at his scarred face. Every single one of them — except her. But walking across that floor in front of everyone was only the beginning of what it would cost her. • A woman with nothing to lose crosses a crowded ballroom and asks a ruined duke to dance — and he refuses her in front of everyone • A conspiracy hidden inside estate papers slowly unravels, and the person Emmeline trusted least turns out to be the one she should have trusted first • Two people marked by the same kind of loss — one by fire, one by grief — find their way to each other by the most honest route available: the truth This is a story about what happens when you stop hiding — and what you find waiting on the other side.