Lady Christina was still in mourning, though it had been well over a year. And while she hadn't loved her late husband, she had grown accustomed to his money and his Puritan ways. But all this would change at the arrival of the dreaded Sir Gerard Percy, the new master of Thornwood.... The moment Christina saw Gerard, she remembered her disdain for him. True, she had loved him once. But things had changed since then. Now the earl was a here to find a bride. To gather his guests together for a house party at Thornwood. But how dare he suggest a Christmas ball at such short notice! And didn't he know that waltzing was indeed a sin? But at the ball, when Gerard asks Christina for her hand in the last dance, she has no choice but to accept. For she cannot rightfully refuse the master of Thornwood...or her heart....