An Inconvenient Wife — Patricia Oliver

A Notorious Rake

It was to be Bath's most talked-about affaire de coeur. Bored by society, jaded by a life lived solely for pleasure, London's premier rake, Lord Robert Monroyal, decided to gamble on his heart. He wagered a breathtaking ten thousand pounds that he would never wed. A second bet followed, involving a lovely lightskirt he vowed to seduce within a week.

AN INNOCENT LADY
No one envisioned that prim, proper Pamela Hancock, on the shelf at five-and-twenty, would be Monroyal's downfall. Yet the lord, accidentally luring the wrong female to a rendezvous, was now forced to offer for a confirmed spinster's hand. He was aghast. She was simply appalled.

A SCANDALOUS AFFAIR!
Cupid's fun was just beginning. The lady wanted no husband; the gentleman wanted no wife. Yet fate had flung them together for a shocking misalliance -- and a frisson of feeling that couldn't -- or could it? -- be love.