With nowhere left to go and a fortune in imperial Russian jewels to protect, Nicholas Massey had only one choice -- to return to Shenstone, his late uncle's home and the legacy he had never intended to claim. The son of an expatriate Englishman and a Russian noblewoman, Nicholas was a consummate spy, yet murder and betrayal had forced him into the open -- and into direct contact with his uncle's widow, the lovely and aloof Elizabeth. Elizabeth...with her intriguing ties to the Russian court and her isolation at Shenstone. Elizabeth...with her intrusive questions and her mysterious secrets. Elizabeth... who would soon discover that Nicholas numbered among his talents those of a very persuasive, and fantastically accomplished lover.