The first novel in the 'Cavendish Square' trilogy of Regency-era historical romances about three aristocratic women who seek romance and excitement in London after one of them inherits a fabulous house on Cavendish Square.
Three twenty-eight-year-old impoverished aristocratic women -- Cornelia (Nell) Dagenham, a widow with two young children, her sister-in-law Aurelia (Ellie), also a widow with a young child, and their friend Livia, are desperate for a break from the tedium of country life, but the trustees of Nell's late husband's estate refuse to allow her a short sojourn in London with her children and her friends. They fail to see how three inexperienced women, country mice lacking in sophistication, will manage to cope on such an adventure. But when Livia inherits a fashionable house in London's Cavendish Square, the women decide to pool their meagre resources and spend a month in London where they can inspect Livia's new property and a determined prospective buyer.
The man interested in buying the house is Lord Harry Bonham, a charming member of London's sporting aristocracy. An attraction springs up immediately between Harry and Nell, and Nell, who previously only enjoyed a tepid romance of a marriage of convenience, experiences true love and passion for the first time. But little does she know that Harry leads a double life as a cryptographer and a code breaker for British Intelligence and his initial interest in the house -- and her -- is due to an encryption device he believes is hidden in the house. He passion for Nell provides a deeper reason for his interest, yet he can't reveal his secret life to her without endangering her, her children, and her friends.
