The Earl of Walmesley does the unthinkable. He asks a dear friend to risk her reputation to save him from a matrimonial trap. Lady Caroline Eddington has always loved Miles Trilby. She would do anything for him. But—enter into a false betrothal? She is mad to agree. She risks more than her place in society. She risks her heart. Lord Trilby’s sudden smile was one of self-mockery. 

“I am caught fast in a coil, one of my own making, and I harbor the hope that you will be able to aid me in extricating myself." 

“You know that you may call upon me. Miles,” Lady Caroline said quietly. 

Her heart was beating uncomfortably hard. She could not imagine what sort of difficulty the earl could possibly be in, but that it was of a serious nature was obvious to her. Lord Trilby’s uncharacteristic seriousness greatly alarmed her. Lord Trilby was not given over excessively to any vice that she was aware of. He was wealthy enough that any losses at the gaming table would hardly be noticed, so she was easily able to dismiss the outrageous thought that he had come to beg a loan of her. She knew also that Lord Trilby was too even-tempered and moderate in drink to indulge in dueling or anything of that nature, even if provoked. That left only the possibility that his lordship was having some difficulty with a woman. At the thought, Lady Caroline’s fingers momentarily curled in her lap. 

The Earl of Walmesley was no saint, of course. There had naturally been the odd mistress or two that she had been told about by well-meaning friends, and each time she had died a little death. But she had not realized before how thoroughly she had dreaded the day that Lord Trilby would come to tell her that he had become seriously involved with someone. 

“It is a female,” she stated, with what she thought was creditable calm in consideration of how violently she was shaking inside.