An Early Engagement — Barbara Metzger

MARRY HER VILE COUSIN, AND LOSE HER INHERITANCE AS WELL AS HER INDEPENDENCE? NEVER!

Thus Lady Emilyann, a hellion with a nose for trouble, tracked down her childhood friend and insisted he honor the betrothal arrangement their fathers had made years before. As for Major Lord Stokely, anxious to return to Bonaparte's battlefields, he saw no reason not to marry the scrawny, wide-eyed chit, settle her at his estate with a list of mandates that, being an officer, he expected her to follow.

Lady Em, however, never one to be leg-shackled, took to running the estate with her usual spirit and independence, blossoming from ragamuffin to beauty and becoming the toast of the town.

So upon his return from the wars, her husband discovered he had yet another battle to win: the heart of his lovely wife!