She felt an affinity with the brides of the past. Condor de Vivaz welcomed Abbey Temple to his Valley D’Oro home in the Amazon with a warning: “I'm even harder to fool than your erstwhile fiancé, who deserves to be congratulated for his escape from a selfish charmer.” The family fortune had been squandered—but without Abbey’s knowledge—to attract a man of substance. And Condor blamed Abbey for her aging aunt and uncle’s precarious financial footing. Yet he defended his family’s tradition of purchasing brides from bankrupt aristocrats to ensure the survival of the gold rich Vivaz dynasty!