Though she was well past her first season, she was still simply Fanny to all who knew and loved her. To her contemporaries, she was a dignified spinster--plain, perhaps, but oh-so-elegant with a bearing and style all her own. Fanny had no intentions of rushing into a marriage hastily proposed by Jack Fairfield, despite the fact that she'd silently adored him for years. She had suffered through his courtship and marriage to her beautiful cousin Sarah. Now, Sarah was dead and Jack needed someone to manage his house and children. Fanny's sister was overjoyed, her godmother cautious, and her dear old friend Roger downright sceptical. Fanny knew she had to listen to her heart....