Summary
In dire financial straits after her family’s lavish spending, Lizelle recalls a novel’s plot and rescues an abandoned boy from the slums, believing him to be a duke’s missing heir. She presents the child to Duke Chester, who remains skeptical but offers her temporary shelter while he investigates. The boy, Lapel, grows deeply attached and refuses to be separated from her. The duke then makes a startling offer: marry him for one year in exchange for a fortune. Lizelle agrees, but their arrangement of convenience soon blurs into something more genuine as his intense attention and nightly visits leave her increasingly confused.