Refusing her mother's decree that she stay with her stepbrother in London for a Season in order to seek a husband was the easy part. Lady Annabella Price simply hid in a derelict old cottage on the estate and sent her maid instead. Between daily battles with field mice and sucking on her last lemon, life has been far from perfect. But Annabella prefers hiding out in the small abandoned house at Wyndham Green to being with the Duke of Wyndham for even a day. At least she did... until the insufferable Lord Seabrook showed up. Jonathan Durham, Fourth Earl of Seabrook, offered to do a simple favor for his friend: travel to Haselmere to find the duke's stepsister, Lady Annabella Price, and make sure no harm had come to her. What he found was a willful, spirited lady, not a damsel in distress. The impetuous beauty intrigues Lord Seabrook, and he's curious to learn why she's hiding in the cottage. When they're caught in a compromising position, a hurried marriage seems the logical conclusion. Lord Seabrook sees the marriage as the perfect answer to both of their problems. He needs a wife, and Annabella's mother wants her to find a husband. But how will he convince his unwilling bride to give their marriage a chance when's she's determined to have it dissolved?