The sixth Earl of Fenchmore had a rather jaundiced view of marriage-minded misses. They were all simpering, manipulative featherbrains and he'd have nothing to do with them or their ambitious mamas. So jaded was the arrogant lord that the forthright intelligence of Miss Deanna St. Cloud seemed nothing less than a miracle. But he was not about to surrender his hard-kept independence simply because her lovely grey eyes shone with honesty and wit, and her riotous red curls spoke of inner passion and fire.