Gripping right from the start with a superb plot. The hero is a tortured, charismatic, magnetic bastard, who, in his service to the Crown, has totally lost himself and any sense of morals or humanity. The heroine is a sad, lonely woman, treated with spite by her brother's widow, upon whom she is reliant, who spends her days and her love on her treasured nephew, her only living relative. This story is superior to the first, The Duke, I think, although both are extremely well-written and equally dark, with lovely descriptive passages and intense, but not irritating, insights into the thoughts of the hero and heroine. The story is one of two parts, but they flow seamlessly together. You really feel the hero's pain, and the conflict between his duty, what he has to do to fulfill it, and his need to be loved, feels very real and tortured. Equally, you really feel the heroine's total lack of understanding, until the facts are laid before her. And, finally, the love between the hero and heroine is beautifully written in extremely sensual, flowing and non-icky language. Great romance, well-written.