Portrait of Passion — Lynne Barron

What's a Viscount to do when a mysterious lady with a secret past and a reputation frayed around the edges suddenly appears in London? Especially when she's in hot pursuit of his naive young cousin, setting the gossips' tongues wagging, stirring his family into pandemonium and driving him mad with her irreverent ways? If the Viscount in question is Simon Easton, the answer is quite simple. Seduce the beguiling lady. But Miss Beatrice Morgan isn't your average tarnished lady. She lives a slapdash life wandering the globe like a gypsy, painting fantastical portraits of Duchesses as sirens and landscapes featuring a crumbling old fountain, all the while harboring a secret desire to return to Idyllwild, the only home she's ever known. What Simon does not know is that Beatrice just might be willing to sacrifice her honor, her virtue, her very heart to reclaim Idyllwild.