Lady Emily can't afford a scandal. Her sister's debut is just weeks away and she has her pteridology group to safeguard. It's bad enough to be stuck in a hole overnight with Lord Markshall, and worse to have kissed him. Marriage is unthinkable. But newspaper hearsay on their "frolics and fernication" after a fern hunting accident puts everything she's worked for in jeopardy.

Lord Markshall's whole political career is based on manipulation and disguise. Lady Emily's polite insults are just the thing to prove to himself, and everyone else, that he's still an unworthy rake. He wants her desperately, but even a fake engagement is too good for him. With Emily's sister's debut and a major political vote coming up, their reputations–good and bad–have never been more critical. The newspaper gossip is edging toward the truth, threatening to incinerate everything they hold dear. Can they understand, accept, and love each other, before it's too late?