Miss Hannah Mole has for twenty years earned her living precariously as a governess or companion to a succession of difficult old women. Now, aged forty, a thin and shabby figure, she returns to Radstowe, the lovely city of her youth. Here she is, if not exactly welcomed, at least employed as housekeeper by the pompous Reverend Robert Corder, whose daughters are sorely in need of guidance. But even the dreariest situation can be transformed into an...

Lady Ivy Fenwick is desperate. Since her father's fatal duel, she and her sisters have sold off every valuable possession to make ends meet. With the manor stripped bare, Ivy has one last resort: Apply as governess to the Duke of Ellsworth's wards. James should have known better than to hire the desirable lady who had fallen on hard times-- and who tempts him at every turn. As her employer, he tries valiantly to remain noble and not let a kiss...