The pretenders

by Gwen Davis

The rakish and handsome Baron Reeve of Ormsby, Earl of Cambridge, falls into the worst debt of his life when his horse loses a sure-thing race. His frustration is compounded by the fact that he has the money within his grasp, but his straitlaced uncle, Lord Bradford, will only agree to give him access to his inheritance before his 26th birthday if Reeve will deign to enter into a contract of marriage for its "settling effect." In an effort to thwart his uncle's desires and still gain the inheritance, Reeve invites his childhood pal Deb, a horse-lover herself and disinherited daughter of a baron, to marry him. Lured by the offer of her own horse as well as the desire to help her misunderstood friend, Deb agrees. They promise each other faithfully not to be married: to feign engagement and then find they "do not suit" before the nuptials. And they equally promise to, no matter what, not fall in love. This, of course, is a story in which all promises are broken.