The Duke’s Bargain

Estella was betrothed to Viscount Alistair Ravensdale, a man in his seventies and old enough to be her grandfather. The thought of belonging to him made her sick. But she had no choice. As the illegitimate daughter of the Baron of Cleverview, she had known only servitude under her stepmother, the Baroness, and her twin stepsisters, Geraldine and Georgina.



Estella became the price of his silence when the Baron embezzled public funds to indulge his wife’s extravagant tastes. The Viscount, willing to cover up the debt, demanded her as payment. She would be his fourth wife and the only one still alive. Estella would rather die than waste away in an isolated castle bound to a man she loathed.



Duke Félix of Châteaubriant was engaged to the King of England’s daughter, Coralie. No one had forced him into it, and no one could. He needed a duchess to manage his estates and was growing tired of fleeting affairs. To him, marriage was a contract and a practical arrangement.



But that was before Estella.



A chance encounter at Lady Agatha’s ball left the Duke and Estella in a compromising situation. Seeing an opportunity, Estella blackmailed Felix into granting her the one thing she had always wanted: freedom from her family and the future they had imposed on her only if the Baron and Baroness would let her go without a fight.



Would her gamble pay off, or had she only succeeded in trading one cage for another?