The Gentleman and the Spy — Neil Plakcy

The Gentleman and the Spy is an 83,000 word Victorian-era lord and valet romance with a country house party and a touch of espionage and international intrigue. After his father's death Lord Magnus Dawson has more important things to think about than falling in love—like how to earn a living when all he knows is the idleness he was raised with, and the military training he received before selling his commission. For Toby Marsh, the impetus is as great, though he doesn't have Magnus's family connections to fall back on. A scholarship student at Cambridge, he was forced to spend his last year in college as valet and sometime tutor to a brainless fellow student after his father's sudden death. Now he scrabbles out a living as a freelance tutor. Then a call from the Foreign Office brings them together. Toby disdains the idle lordling, and Magnus can't seem to treat Toby as more than a servant. As they delve deeper into their assignment, the attraction between them grows. But can they envision a future together when so class and culture conspire to drive them apart?