When American-born Wesley Parker inherits a dukedom in 1890, he must learn to be an aristocrat. Assigned to the task is his attorney’s daughter, prim Belle Oakhurst. As they travel to England together on a luxurious ocean liner, their tempestuous relationship encounters more than rough seas. Although Wesley is increasingly attracted to Belle, she is already engaged. While Belle begins to regret her hasty promise to marry, she is bound by honor and duty to keep her pledge. Furthermore, a thoughtless fabrication on her part threatens to expose her as a liar. Neither Wesley nor Belle can foresee that their voyage across the Atlantic will be fraught with peril, and will cost more than one man his life.

Mr. Oakhurst, the solicitor to the 10th Duke of Mansbury, Septimus Parker, has taken his daughter with him across the Atlantic to inform the 11th Duke of Mansbury, Frederic Parker, that his brother has died and he has inherited everything. When he and his daughter, Annabelle, find the new duke’s residence, they learn that Frederic Parker died several years ago and that the new duke is, in fact, his 20-year-old son Wesley. They are further surprised to find that 20-year-old Wesley has been raised in poverty and does not want a title – or to leave America. But when Wesley sees how much it means to his mother for him to be the duke and to return to England, he agrees to it.

This story takes place in three parts: New York, the boat to England, and England.

When Annabelle first meets Wesley, she is not impressed. She finds him to be a “disgusting delinquent,” but to help her father she agrees to teach Wesley the rules of gentlemanly behavior — and to teach him to dance. Wesley thinks Annabelle is stuck up and feels bad for her fiance back in England, Errol. While they are waiting for the boat to leave from New York, they spend time together and become good friends.

On the boat, they meet Louise, Stephen, Stacy, Eva, Carl and Horatio. They form a dancing club. Belle finds herself thinking a lot less about Errol and a lot more about Wesley. A lot happens on the boat and she learns how wrong her first impressions of Wesley were. Wesley was not what she expected, but now she finds that he has “far surpassed anything she could have imagined.”

When they get back to England, she hopes to break off her engagement to Errol, who she had barely known before she left for America. Where Errol was attentive and tender before she left for America, she now finds him to be demanding and almost cruel to her. He demands that she honor their wedding contract and threatens to ruin her father if she doesn’t.

There is definitely a mystery in Errol’s behavior, and Wesley isn’t willing to give Annabelle up so easily. He is determined to discover what Errol is covering up so he can free Belle from Errol’s blackmailing grasp.

This was a great story with great secondary characters. I think my favorite character in the whole book is Wesley’s valet, Cavendish. Wesley hires him because he got dismissed from his last job for drinking, and so Wesley figures that once they get on the boat Cavendish will ignore him — and the very American Wesley doesn’t want a valet! But with Cavendish he got a lot more than he bargained for… Bartholomew Xavier Cavendish is a lot more than he appears! It was fun to see him get his happy ending, too!

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