When Evie Henshawe agreed to sit as an artist's model for the eccentric Marquess of Ashcombe, she was expecting to lose her clothes and her reputation. She wasn't counting on losing her mind—or her heart. As a second son, Ash was never meant to be a marquess. Bookish, circumspect, and devoted to his art, he's a visionary, not a landlord. Horrified by the realities of the Industrial Revolution, he buries himself in the past and uses his resources to build a Gothic Revival Camelot in north London, a place where he can disappear into his dreams. He plans to do exactly that—until Evie comes to wake him up.
An out-of-work seamstress sleeping rough in Highgate Cemetery, Evie is the last person who should turn Ash's head. Having lost her fiancé and most of her friends to Paris Green, all she has left are her looks, a dark sense of humor, and a laudanum habit. Modeling is a job like any other, but she's never met a man quite like Ash.
Through art, history, and volatile chemistry, this odd couple soon discover they're kindred spirits, but things at the castle aren't as perfect as they seem. Ash has a secret that might just send Evie back to Highgate. Is there a way forward for the artist and his muse, or will his circumstances turn their dream into a nightmare?
