She has inherited her mother's exquisite beauty, as well as her sensuous, impulsive nature - a legacy that will plunge her life into turmoil . . .

Antoinette, daughter of the beautiful Scarlett and a French Vicomte, is irresistibly drawn to her mother's former lover, Sir Peregrine Waite. But he only sees her as a child and does not yield to her passionate advances.

Burning with fury and humiliation at his rejection, Antoinette offers herself to the most notorious poet in Europe and finds herself thrown into disgrace and degradation. But her love still burns for Peregrine, the man whose dangerous secret she has uncovered. The secret he shares with her fiercest rival - Scarlett.