A Fragile Mask
Bailey, Elizabeth
Tunbridge Wells 1795  --  Miss Verena Chaceley was a mystery to her neighbours. She was stunningly beautiful, but so coldly calm that she held all at a distance.  Only Mr. Denzell Hawkeridge saw a break in her façade, as she frolicked joyously with the local children.  He realized that there was a turmoil of feeling beneath her polite, expressionless exterior.

Shaken, Denzell knew that this time his flirting could hurt, and he determined to find the truth about Verena -- falling in love with her wasn't part of the plan at all…