[close] After a year of grand adventures touring the  classical ruins of Italy and Greece, Iphiginia Bright  returned to England to discover that the real  excitement was at home. It seems that her Aunt Zoe has  fallen victim to a sinister blackmailer and only  Iphiginia can hope to stop the culprit before he  can do more harm. Her plan is inspired: Imitating  history's most legendary beauties--Cleopatra, Helen  of Troy, Aphrodite--the former schoolmistress will  remake herself, and descend upon London Society as  the dazzling mistress of Marcus Valerius Cloud,  the infamous Earl of Masters. Rumors hint that the  Earl has disappeared at the blackmailer's hands,  and by posing as his unknown mistress, Iphiginia is  convinced she can ferret out the villain.  Overnight, Iphiginia is transformed into a vision with a  host of eager admirers, including one she does not  expect--the Earl of Masters himself, who strides  into a shimmering ballroom one evening to cooly  reclaim his "mistress". He is everything  they say he is... arrogant, attractive,  devastatingly seductive, and Iphiginia can't help but be  enthralled. But when Marcus agrees to play along with  her charade, she doesn't know that the determined  Earl has plans of his own: to tease and tempt her,  until the beautiful deceiver becomes more than his  mistress in name only. [close]