A Garden for Ivy

Lydia gathered her skirts. "Shall we drown her in the punch? Drive a violin bow into her left ear? Command us, O General. We shalt do thy bidding.""I have pins in my reticule..." Ivy looked thoughtful. Lady Maud chuckled. "Nothing so drastic, darlings, but I do appreciate the creativity." She paused. "Especially the violin bow. I rather like that. Messy, but effective."Lady Maud Sydenham, on the matter of an unwelcome guest, to Miss Lydia Davenport and Miss Ivy Siddington, The Wednesday Club, London, Spring 1819Ivy Siddington adores her Wednesday Club friends, along with Miss Prudence Hartsmere-Drake, niece of the Duke of Maidenbrooke. Chaperoning Prudence is a delight, but the Duke...well, he's the kind of problem that keeps a girl awake at night when she's not dreaming of a hero just like him. A boorish lackwit, a moment of madness - and the consequent scandal results in a massive upheaval in Ivy's life. Scarcely able to comprehend it, she finds herself in the middle of an adventure she could never have imagined, and an attraction that quietly grows into passion. There will be a garden, a madman, and a fountain, not to mention a daring moment of crisis and a cruelly murdered bonnet. But love will triumph, and Ivy's heart will bloom at last - along with her flowers.