An Easter Bouquet — Therese Alderton

A CYNICAL WAGER
It was just the sort of absurd wager in which bored London fashionables delighted. In return for a prime piece of horseflesh, Lord Vyse the most decadent of town sophisticates, would pose until Easter as a virtuous Rector in a country village. The smart money said he'd not last a week. But what his cohorts did not know was that Lord Vyse had tired of demimondaines, clinging mistresses, and jealous husbands. In fact, be was rather looking forward to a quiet Easter in the country, far away from the temptations of the flesh.

A PERFECT PLAN
There was something puzzling about the new Rector, though first Miss Lily Sterling couldn't put her finger on it. Perhaps it was simply his mysterious reticence about his past. Or maybe it was the appraising way be looked her over, as no Rector should -- or was this the result of a young country spinster's imagination? And then there were the odd mistakes be made as his parish prepared for the colorful festivities of a village Easter. No, there was something highly suspicious about this all-too-handsome "clergyman," and Lily came up with the Perfect Plan to unmask him -- with herself as bait!

Hero: Quentin Vernon, Lord Vyse
Heroine: Miss Lily Sterling